Lost and Found
by Valleygoat
Summary: Carrie, an abused teenager, has moved to Forks, Washington. She longs to find freedom, but is it as she has expected? Will she ever find happiness.Read and review please. rewrite/edit/proofread with/by chicke
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

Chapter 1 Prologue

Forks, Washington, the wettest place on Earth apparently, but it didn't matter to me. We wouldn't be staying here for long anyways; we never stay anywhere for long. It doesn't matter; it's never home to me. No. Home is where the heart is, as the saying goes. Home is where there are people who look forward to your return from school. To see your parents smiling at you, asking how your day has been, stuff like that. No. There is never anything like that here or anywhere for me.

I'm sorry my name is Carrie. I don't go by last name. I have one, but I don't use it. It's the family name. I have no family. Ok I have family in the biological sense siblings and parents, but that is as far as the word family gets me. Sure I have parents and siblings, who have moved off to start their own lives, but I have no family. They don't acknowledge me, and I don't acknowledge them. That's the way it always has been, that's the way it will always be. My parents, and I use the term loosely are not like parents at all. A Mother is suppose to be nurturing and caring, and a father is suppose to represent safety, protection, a provider or at least that is what I have heard. Not one of these qualities can be found in my parents at least not directed towards me. In a way I don't even live with my parents. I'm not even really allowed in the house. I wouldn't go in there even if you paid me.

But I digress. My point is this; I thought that this place would be like all the others. I would fade in then fade out and none would be the wiser. Another day would pass that I would be forever stuck in this jail, and in my shell. It may sound as if I have given up, and in a way I guess I have for I know that I will never truly be free until my death comes to claim me. But do not mistake my words for being suicidal I am not weak enough to take my life. All the things I have been through and all the pain I have experienced only makes me stronger. It's only the chains that keep me down and discourages, that prevents me from blooming. I'm just too scared to break free for I have closed my eyes to the matter and accepted it as normal. I have discovered long ago that my chains represent my fear; I am too scared to break free. My eyes cannot see in the dark and without any light I cannot move forward without risk of tripping, so I stay. I have become accustomed to my life and have long ago accepted it as normal.

I just accepted this hollow, lonely feeling within me for it defines who I am. I am nothing, I am no one, and my sole purpose in life was to just take up space, as I have been told repeatedly by my parents. I have come to accept everything they ever told me, when they did speak to me. Or more precisely at me; that is because I have never been told or shown otherwise. I wasn't worth anything to anybody or anything. So I continued with my empty existence living only for myself and no one else.

That all changed when I allowed him in, or more accurately he forced himself in. With him I eventually opened up, but as I've said before, my true freedom will only come with my death. Or is it just an exchange of cages. A change for a cage that is less constrictive. I still haven't really figured it out yet, but I'm not complaining.

As I've said before, my name is Carrie, and this is my story. My story of being lost then found.

IT IS SHORT BUT IT IS JUST AN INTRODUCTION. LEAVE A REVIEW PLEASE AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT CHICKE IS HELPING ME WITH WRITING THIS FIC, SHE IS DOING SOME EDITING AND OFFERING ADVICE TO HELP ME IMPROVE MY WRITING.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR **VAMPRESSHOTTIE**, **MILA-RENAE**, AND **CHICKE1345** FOR REVIEWING THE LAST CHAPTER.

Chapter 2 Moving

I have often been accused of 'having my head in the clouds' because I walk through my life unaware of reality, which is an incorrect assumption. If people want idioms to describe me I would say that I have both feet firmly placed on the ground. I'm not so selfish to say that I am the only person to feel this way I'm just one of the unlucky ones who know how harsh reality can truly be. I have decided to dull my pain by walking through life numb.

Things have been the same for me since as far back as I can remember. From the time I get up until I go to bed I run on auto pilot. I cannot be myself until I get back to the privacy of my own 'room'; it is kind of hard for me to be truly at peace and be myself even when it is just me there to see.

We just moved to Forks, Washington, where I have concluded it always rains. I didn't take longer for me to figure that out despite what most people think. We, as in my 'parents' and I, have just moved into a house around an hour or so walk from downtown Forks. We arrived here around dawn and my parents dropped me off with all of our belongings and some supplies to fix the house up. It would seem that my time here as a slave or free labor has begun.

"All right, listen here ya brat." said my father. His name is Thomas. He stands about 5'9", black hair with gray/white patches. He weighs around 250 and has a large beer gut that his shirt just barely covers. I can already smell the alcohol on his breath, which no longer surprises me. I turn around to face him, eyes looking at the ground between our feet. I learned long ago not to look him in face or eyes unless I want to make friends with the ground real fast. I don't look at him and he for the most part doesn't look at me.

"Liz and I are going to town. We want this house fixed up, cleaned out and everything put away by the time we get back by eight. You know what happens if you're not done. Don't break anything and make sure you don't soil anything with those filthy hands of yours." He turned around and got into the drivers' seat of the old 1986 ford something or other. I could never tell what it was. It's so rusted and faded that I believe that the original color was blue.

Liz rolled down the window and spoke in her 'holier than thou' voice. It was shrill and nasal sounding. "You are to make up both bedrooms. Make sure the mattresses stay clean and that there are no rips in the fabric or your hide will be tanned," she warned. The whole time she never turns my way. Her profile was to me the entire time. The same with Thomas, I never look at her or set my eyes upon her, for roughly the same consequence applies. The only difference is that she likes to add lemon juice to the injuries.

Liz, short for Elizabeth, weighs around 50 - 60 pounds more than Thomas. I'm never too sure about her height for every time I see her she is always sitting down, but I would put her around 5'0". Liz isn't really my mother, she is my aunt. My real mother died when I was born, that's all I know about her. I don't even know her name. Thomas married Liz right after mom died, but I believe her death is why Thomas hates me so much.

With that said they pulled out of the drive way. The tires spun so fast that I got peppered with gravel. I flinched some but that is about it. I only flinch when I don't expect to be touched or when in their presence. I found that it makes life a little easier when around them. I waited until they were out of site to turn around.

When I turned around I looked at the house. It looks like my lucky day; the house appears to be in somewhat good condition. However when I walked through I realized that I was somewhat mistaken. The house has been recently painted and the loose boards on the porch were fixed but on the inside was a different matter. Throughout the house were exposed electrical wires. The cabinets in the kitchen were lacking doors and shelves. The wallpaper throughout the house was peeling and would be better if it were replaced. The sinks and tubs and toilets had mold in them. And the tile and wood floors needed a good wax and polish. The basement was nothing but cobwebs and spider webs, like it hasn't been used in a decade or so.

The house was white with two stories plus a basement. It had two bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms. As you walk into the front door there is a little hall. On the right there is a coat closet. After that it opens up in both directions. On the left it opens up into the living room which was about 12' by 12'. There was a window on two adjacent walls. The living room was connected to the dining room with the same dimensions. On the right of the hall way was a small but decent kitchen. Too bad it will never be used for neither Thomas or Liz cooks and I'm not allowed in the house once it's 'inhabitable' for a human to live in. There is a pantry room next to the door that leads to the basement. That door is across from the opening in the hall way. Connected to the kitchen (to the right if you're in here) is a small sitting room that has a door that leads to the half bath. At the end of the hall way is a set of stairs the lead up to the second floor. After three feet on the left there is a door that leads to a bedroom that has a joining bathroom. Six feet from the stairs is the other bedroom. A few feet from that is a linen closet, and a few feet from that is the other bathroom. (If you're a little confused I'll try to add a drawing on my page.)

When I head outside I look at my watch and see that it's going on eleven o'clock. I look through the items and found the cleaning supplies that were provided by the movers. They offered to help move the furniture but Thomas declined saying he could handle it. I had to roll my eyes at that. I'm the only one who works in this so called family. I decided to get to work.

I take off my layers of clothing off. All the things I own are hand me downs from my older half siblings. (They are Liz's kids from her last marriage). They are over twice my size so everything I have is really baggy. They are not as baggy as they used to be because I took them in as best as I could and I used what was left as blankets, bedding, or made other clothes with it. Despite my life style I'm always surprised at how large I am. I'm about 5'4" and 155 pounds. I have curly/wavy auburn hair that comes to my hips. I have brown eyes that change shade according to my mood. They have even appeared to be a grayish blue or a brownish green. I have a bit of a sickly pale complexion that sometimes look healthy, but that's mainly when the dark circles under my eyes aren't all that noticeable. All in all I don't really find myself ugly, I just see myself as being slightly below average when it comes to looks. I think others may see my personality as being cold since I prefer isolation on account of I've always really been on my own.

When I'm done I'm left in shorts and a tank top. Even though it's drizzling and a little chilly, it doesn't bother me for I have learned to ignore things like the heat or cold since most of the time I have to set up my 'room' outside. I put a garbage bag over my form so my 'stench' and 'filth' doesn't get all over anything. I even put bags over my old worn out holey snickers. With that done I put my clothes in my possessions bag. I have two bags. One for possessions, the other is for school. I have my hair up in a ponytail and have my head covered by a large worn bandana. I usually wear long sleeves and pants to cover up my scars and bruising and other marks.

With all that taken care of I start to clean the house. I started with the basement and worked my way up. Then I went up to the second floor and worked my way down. Then I cleaned out the main floor. I fixed the wall paper, and the cabinets, cleaned and polished the floors, hid the electrical wires. By the time I was done cleaning it was three o' clock. I started to sort the boxes and furniture so they would be grouped by rooms.

At three thirty I heard a vehicle coming up the gravel road. It couldn't be Thomas or Liz for they are never early for anything excepted to an all you can eat special. I turned around and spotted a police cruiser coming to a stop. A man stepped out who appeared to be either the chief or the sheriff of this town. He came walking up to me with a bright smile on his face. My defense mechanism kicks in. Emotions are wiped from my face, my eyes take on a dark if not dead or vacant look and I avoid eye contact.

"Hi there, my name is Charlie Swan and I'm the chief of police in this city. I am here to welcome you to the town since your new people here. Where are your parents?" he asked.

"They went to town sir," I replied in an unemotional quiet voice.

"Is that so," Charlie said. He looked me. "Well, what's your name and how old are you?" he asked.

I responded, "My name is Carrie and I'm 17."

"So you're going to be a senior at the high school huh. I have a daughter your age, she attends there as well. Her name is Isabella Swan. Maybe you could be friends with her or something. She could show you around."

"Maybe, I'm sure I'll be fine." I responded.

"So when are your folks coming back?" he asked. I responded that they won't be back until tonight. He stood there and looked around at everything and asked, "Surely there is someone here that is going to help bring all this inside. It's an awful lot and quite heavy for one such as yourself."

"I'll manage," I told him.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Positive," was my answer. And to prove I walked over to a couch, took the cushions off. I pulled it towards me where it was over and around me like a tent. I pushed it up so I was holding it over top of me. It was heavy but it was my task to do, and if Thomas and Liz found out that I had help I would get into trouble. It took me about fifteen minutes to get it into the living room. I came back out trying not to show how much that tired me out, for I don't want to appear weak. I don't show off often, but I don't feel like being bothered to day.

Charlie had an uncertain and undecided look on his face. After a few minutes he finally sighed, appearing defeated. "Alright," he said, "I'll go now, just don't overdo it okay? Well I guess all I have to say is 'Welcome to Forks.'" With that he got back into his vehicle and took off down the driveway. I waited a few minutes to make sure he really left and didn't come back. I turned around and observed how much work I still had to do. I let out a big depressed sigh and thought to myself '_this is going to be a long day_.'

By seven o'clock I had the house ready. I decided to look around the property. The only upside is that I found what used to be a shed in the back yard. I could use the pieces to build my shelter. I usually build it out where it can't be seen. It's so much easier to do here in the forest. I make sure that I'm still in yelling range though, because, after all, I am free labor and I'm supposed to be at their beck and call. I have to snort at that. I was in luck I even found a barrel that I can use to gather rain water for drinking and bathing. I even found an old abandoned den that would provide the perfect shelter when the weather gets worse and I can sleep in at night. Inside the height of the den was four to four and a half feet, and was large enough to sit six comfortably.

After I get the outside things set up I head back in the den to set up my stuff. I had to crawl in, but it wasn't that bad. I looked at my watch and noticed that Tom and Liz would be home any minute and I had to greet them like a good little dog. '_Disgusting_,' I thought. '_It's demeaning and pathetic the things I have to go through with them. Someday, somehow I'll be free of them, but I don't know how or when and for that I am pathetic. It is just like they say.'_

I take my position by the front of the house just as they are pulling into the drive way. They walk past me and into the house. I stand out there and wait. A few minutes later Thom comes out and throws what appears to be a uniform at me. "That's your work uniform. I got you a job at a local diner. You start tomorrow an hour after school. You know the routine or you should if you even have a brain between those ears," he sneered at me. "Which you probably don't," he finished under his breath thinking that I didn't hear him.

I had to mentally bite my tongue to prevent from speaking out. _'I do have a mind, thank you which is more than you'll ever have._' I thought. The routine that he spoke about is that I get work, get paid give them all of the money, except that which I use to buy a tooth brush, tooth paste, and any other things that I need for hygiene or school. Even then I have to show him what I bought and the receipt for them.

I waited until the lights are off before left. When the lights are turned off that means that I will not be needed and can go back to my 'room' for the night, I decided to explore some more. About a mile or so from my den I found a pond that could bathe in and fish for food. When it comes to food I'm on my own. Sometimes I even go dumpster diving for food. You wouldn't believe how much edible food gets thrown out. I also hunt, fish, and look for roots and herbs. I hunt, I forage, and I do what it takes to survive. I even make my own bows and arrows. I don't get to eat very much; I don't have time so most of the time I go without. It really depends on the situation.

I head back to my den and start to prepare for bed. I make a 'nest' so to speak with my old rags, scraggly blankets, leaves and moss/heather. I look through my bag and found two apples, leftovers from my old stash. I decided to save them both for tomorrow so I have something until I found new places to 'scavenge and forage' as I call it. I look at my watch and noticed that it was nearing midnight so decided to call it a night. I set the alarm on the watch to get me up at five. I curled up on the rags and leaf bedding and wrapped the blanket around me and went to sleep. Tomorrow will be my first day of school and work. Oh joy more staring and rumors and another day of being the outcast. _'Oh well like they say that "life sucks" (and then you die)'_ and with that thought I went to sleep.

PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING: **VAMPRESSHOTTIE**, **CHICKE**, **CHIKA1345**

Chapter 3 School and Work Part 1

Beep Beep Beep Be-. '_Stupid watch,_' I thought as I turned it off. It's not all that hard for me to get up believe it or not, for I'm such a light sleeper. I think it as more as meditation. I uncurl myself and I stretch out as best as I am able. As I thought I'd be I'm really sore and stiff from yesterday. I grab my school bag and crawl out of my den then headed towards my outdoor shelter around ten feet from the entrance. The sounds of wildlife are the closest thing I have ever had as a housing environment. To me birds chirping and rustling bushes were like the buzz of a television or radio to normal people. When I got to my shelter I prepared for the day as best as I could. I head out to the pond to bathe. On the way I eat an apple so that I would have energy for the day. After all was said and done it was fifteen till six and I decided now would be a good time to head out.

It was roughly an hour's walk to town and about an additional fifteen minutes to get to the high school. It was also raining but that didn't bother me much, for I always loved the rain. I put the garbage bag over my form to help keep me dry. My head was covered by my hood from my sweater. About halfway to town I heard a car fast approaching me from behind. Out of reflex I turn around to look to see what was coming. The vehicle went by so fast that the only thing I could see was a streak of silver, and it was gone as fast as it came. I thought to myself, '_There's an accident waiting to happen. I mean it's ridiculous to go that fast, especially on these wet roads. That's one car you'll never find me in_.'

The rest of the walk to town was uneventful at least the view was better than others. Small towns always have a sort of charm not found anywhere else. As I thought, it was going on seven by the time I got to town. I started seeing more vehicles pass me by and I noticed that a lot of them held kids my age so I walked in the direction they were headed. I had to cover my ears as an old red truck drove by. The engine was really loud and my ears are sensitive enough as it is. I looked and saw a girl driving it, but I didn't get a real good look at her.

I finally arrived at the school when I came to a sign that said Forks High School. If it wasn't for that and the vehicles I would have walked right past it. I wouldn't really call it a school, more like a collection of buildings. I walked to the first building for it had a sign that said main building on it. I could already feel some stares directed my way, but I ignore them. I take off the garbage bag, shook it off and stuck it into one of my large pockets. I walked in and felt the warmth wash over me. I don't mind the cold, but I don't like being cold while in school.

The lady behind the desk was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. As usual I felt kind of under dressed in my rags, but I brushed the feeling off. I'm used to it. I walked up to her with my unemotional face in place. "Excuse me," I said.

She looked me up and down before asking, "Can I help you?"

"I'm a new student and I need my schedule, please." I told her while keeping my tone and face impassive.

"Oh right." She looks through some papers. She grabs a small stack and looks at the name in top.

"Are you Carrie," she asks. I nod and reply with a quite yes. "Well what's your last name dear? There doesn't appear to be one on record."

"I don't use my last name, for in a sense I don't have one." I replied.

"Oh, so you're an orphan." She looks at me with pity. I hate it when people do that.

"Can I just have my schedule?" I asked more like demanded and I stuck my hand out.

She looked at me for a moment before she hands me a map with all the best routes highlighted. She then handed me another paper and said that I had to have all my teachers sign it and return it at the end of the day. She also explained that the free period at the end of the day I could either go to a study hall, the computer lab or the library, or go home for the day. I decided to use that time to look in the school dumpster's for any food I could take. Sounds thrilling don't it. Well we all do what we must to survive I guess.

My schedule was English, Latin, a science block that was a mix of chemistry and physics, ends with biology, lunch, a math block of Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus, gym, then free period. I looked at the map and quickly memorized it, for it was a simple layout. I noticed that I had roughly fifteen minutes until the official start of the school day.

I walk out of the building and I can already feel more stares then before, along with more whispers thick in the air. Just like at all my other schools I ignored them all. I look up to see where I'm headed and observe my surroundings. I scan over the other students. I spot the loud truck that I had the displeasure of running into before. I see it next to a silver Volvo. '_Could it be the speeding one that I barely saw earlier?_' I thought to myself.

Around these vehicles I notice there are six teens around my age. I recognize one as the driver of the truck. The others I noticed were quite beautiful, model worthy in fact.

'_Great_,' I thought. '_Now I feel even worse about myself than usual with them around. They are probably stuck up or something. Use to their looks to getting them things. Oh well. They stay out of my way; I'll stay out of theirs._' At that moment the one with what looked like bronze hair locked eyes with mine. My heart may have skipped a beat, but I doubt it. I would have blushed if my life hasn't been like it has been, if I was normal, not an abomination as I have been told repeatedly. I look away and head toward my first class.

Edward POV (Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper and Alice will still be going to school.)

Something is going to happen today, I can feel it. There's some kind of strange charge in the air. It feels like urgency, but for what? It doesn't stick around for long though. And that vision that Alice had last night was unusual. She said something was coming, something that would be of great value and importance to us. She couldn't see who or what it was for it was too blurry and obscured in shadows. It kind of set us all on edge for we had no idea what it could be or what it meant. We were all sitting in the living room. By we, I mean Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett and I. Carlisle had already gone to work. It was sort of unusual for all of us to be sitting together like this in the morning. We were all feeling something concerning Alice's vision. I wonder if they feel what I feel.

Esme came out at that moment. "You better get going my dears, you don't want to be late do you?" she said. With that we gathered our things and left to the garage and piled into my silver Volvo. I was in the driver's side, Emmett was riding shot gun. Alice was in the middle in the back. Rosalie was to her right and Jasper to her left. I peeled out and took off down the road as usual. About half way to town I started to have this weird feeling, but I couldn't place what it was. Everything was starting to feel kind of hazy.

"Do you guys feel that?" Jasper asked. Everyone replied with a positive. I didn't really pay attention to the figure along side of the road. It appeared to be a homeless person, if the garbage bag and what appeared to be rags it was wearing were any indication. Shortly after passing the figure the feeling started to pass.

"That was weird," stated Rosalie. Before anyone of us could respond there was a gasp from Alice. She was having a vision; she came out of it a short while later.

"Whatever that feeling was, was to let us know that it has arrived. I still can't see anything. I have a feeling that will be our only clue and the rest is up to us." she said.

"I don't like this," growled Rosalie. "It reminds me of that whole Bella situation again. No offense Edward." she directed to me.

"None taken," I told her. Bella and I broke up shortly after the start of school this year, about a couple of months ago. The whole Victoria issue has been resolved. It turned out that she was killed by some of her own newborns; she created too many at once. We took care of the newborns later. We still broke up though. I was tired of her always asking me to turn her. She couldn't see that I was unwilling to do so, just like the rest of the family. But the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak, was that I found out she started to see that mutt, Jacob Black, behind my back. I have come to realize that we could be nothing more than friends. We still speak, but I have a hard time being around her like I use to for she smells so strongly of that wolf.

We arrived at school, got out and we all waited for Bella as usual. And of course, Rosalie was pouting about it. Bella pulled into next to us a few moments later, got out of her truck and leaned against the front close to us.

"Hey guys," she greeted. We said our usual greetings, but it must have sounded a bit distracted. Bella was looking us over; she knew us well enough to know that something was up.

"Is there something wrong you guys? You seem kind of, I don't know, different." she questioned her eyes still scanning each of us.

"Nothing Bella," I told her. "We just have a lot on our minds right now. Alice had a weird vision, and we all have this weird feeling too, but we don't know what to make of it. Don't worry it has nothing to do with you." I told her as I saw some panic start to leak onto her face. She calmed down shortly afterwards though, due to me telling her that and Jasper sending some calming influence her way.

"Oh I haven't told you guys yet, but a new family moved into town. They live almost as far out as you guys do. They moved into that old abandoned house. Charlie told me that he met with the daughter; she's our age and will be in our class. He said she seemed like a nice girl. He did say that it was weird that she didn't have any help getting all the furniture into the house. He said that he offered to help, but she refused it. After she refused, she walked over, picked up a couch and took it into the house. He said that he was really surprised that a girl like her could do that. He just left after that, seeing how she could handle it and everything," she said.

That grabbed some of our attention. I noticed a figure headed toward the main building. It was raining and the figure had a garbage bag over it clothes. "Maybe that's her," I said, nodding toward the figure. "I think we passed her on the way here." We all turned to look.

"I can't believe were acting like a bunch of humans," sneered Rosalie. Emmett wrapped one of his massive arms around her shoulders. "Don't worry Rose. This way we blend in more right," he questioned with a grin on his face.

With that said Bella and Alice started talking about things that have been going on. Bella hasn't visited since we broke up. The others added something every now and then. I just stood there listening to the gossip that was already going around when a new figure has been spotted. A few minutes later I saw the new figure emerge from the main building. I took some time to study them. It did appear to be a female with the high cheek bones just barely visible. It's hard to tell for she still holds most of her baby fat. Her hair appeared to be long. The length undetermined since it was tucked under her hoodie. Her clothes did sort of look like rags, but not too bad. They appeared to have belonged to someone over twice her size and have been crudely taken in. Her skin was really pale, on the border of being sickly, but still nice looking. Her face has some blemishes, but that's to be expected. She also had dark circles under her eyes.

I began to wonder if she was a vampire with the pale skin and dark circles under her eyes. But I put a stop to that. Her eyes were a brown color, and her features were quite plain and average looking. I see that see has a small bit of potential, but she wasn't beautiful like a vampire. I was brought back to the group by Alice. "Careful Edward, you don't want to get caught do you?" she asked. I just glared at her and listened to what was happening in the group.

"How about we go to the café after school, we can talk to catch up. I really missed talking to you guys." asked Bella.

"Tomorrow Bella," I promised. At that moment I looked up and locked eyes with the new girl. It lasted for a few moments. I noticed that the emotionless mask on her face didn't change in the least, nothing changed. I tried to listen to her thoughts but got nothing. I looked away and groaned.

"What's wrong Edward," asked Jasper

"I can't read her mind," I stated.

"Not again!" That was Rosalie.

"It's not the same." I said

"How so," asked Bella.

"I can feel it," I said." I can feel it, connected with it to some extent, I just can't read it."

"What do you feel?" Jasper asked.

"I'm not sure how to describe it. It was blanketed. I felt numb. It is like a numbness surrounding her mind." I said.

Emmett went beside Bella and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Congrats Bella," he said jokingly, "you have cursed us." With that said we went on our way to class.

PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

THANK YOU REVIEWERS: **TORATIGER**, **VAMPRESSHOTTIE**, **CHIKA1345**

Chapter 4 School and Work part 2

Carrie's POV

So far my day has been uneventful. I have long since gotten used to the whispers, staring and the pointing. So continuing to ignore it was nothing. I bet you're tired of hearing that well get used to it. It's my life. Ignore, be ignored. In English two boys who called themselves Mike and Eric came up to me with their girlfriends to introduce themselves. That didn't last long. I said hi then excused myself and left for my next class after getting my paper signed and getting the reading list so I can get caught up.

In Latin I noticed one of the 'models' I spotted earlier was in my class. He was a large fellow, he reminded me of a bear. If his muscles were anything to go by he was probably one of those gym buffs. I noticed laughter in his eyes. I just mentally shrugged and took my seat when directed. I could tell it was going to be an interesting class. The teacher is already crazy and she just gets more hyper with the more coffee she drinks. The teacher was funny, I was mentally laughing somewhere in my mind.

Again someone was brave enough to approach me, but when they noticed I wasn't responding he left to others. I heard them say something about being cold, but I brushed it off. The bear, which I later learned was named Emmett Cullen, was assigned to be my translation partner. '_Great_,' I thought, '_now I'll probably get envious stares now that I'm partnered with a good looking guy_.' That was all I needed, way to make a crappy high school experience even crappier!

In my third class the teacher explained that the first half of the year was devoted to chemistry and the final for it would be during midterms, and that I was exempt from the chemistry midterms due to arriving so late in the semester. The second half of the year was devoted to physics. The beautiful blonde from this morning was assigned as my lab partner. Her name, I learned, was Rosalie Hale. She had a scowl on her face as she looked me over. '_Oh goodie, I get to be annoying_,' I thought sarcastically.

Then it was biology. Again there was one of the 'models' from this morning with the girl who drives the loud red truck. '_I must be cursed_,' I thought to myself. The teacher paired me up with the gorgeous guy and the loud truck girl, named Edward Cullen and Isabella Swan respectively. I was paired with them for they are the best in the class and would help me get caught up quickly. I sat at the empty table behind them and got to work taking notes and going over what the teacher gave me to catch up.

When the teacher told us to work on our own or groups to do our homework, both Edward and Bella turned around so they were also using my table to work off of, that way it would be easier for me to ask for help if I need it.

"Hi, my name is Isabella, but call me Bella please, and this is a good friend of mine Edward." she said gesturing to both of them. I stopped writing looked at both of them said hello to both of them and turned back to my work. They appear to have a silent argument with each other before they turned back to me.

"Well what's your name? We introduced ourselves; it would only be fair if you told us your name." Edward said.

"Carrie," I replied without looking up. I could have melted with that voice if I allowed myself to.

"What's your last name," he asked.

"Don't have one, don't use one, take your pick, it matters not," I replied again without looking up from my work with my usual tone of voice. I could have sworn that I heard that boy Edward trying to smell me. '_Weird_.' That response seemed to quite them for a bit.

They seemed to hesitate before I looked up and spoke, "Don't worry about small talk. If I need your help I'll ask for it." With that said I went back to my work. Bella looked at me, then each other for a bit before they too began on their work. When the bell rang I packed up and went to lunch.

I took my books with me so I could do my homework, for I know that I would have very little time to do it later after school and work. As I walked by people would watch me and as I walked by the chatter would increase. I headed into the farthest corner of the cafeteria, sat down with my back to the corner at an empty table. I immediately got to work to get as much as I can get done before the period ends. I tuned all of the chatter out so I could concentrate; thankfully I got half of everything done during class. With my life I have to know how to use my time wisely.

Thankfully I didn't have a whole lot to do and I finished with a little more than twelve minutes left. I was hungry, but I didn't have the money to get lunch and I have no food of my own. I had a feeling if I did eat I would feel sick for I'm not used to eating. This girl came up and started to take pictures of me blabbing something about front page news. I recognized her as Eric's girlfriend, Angela I think her name was.

I looked at her and said, "Please leave me be." She ignored me and took more pictures and started asking me questions. How I wish I could growl, on the outside my face stayed the same, you couldn't tell but I'm getting annoyed, and I'm feeling a little awkward for I'm not use to so much attention. "Leave," I demanded a little more forcefully. That seemed to do the trick. She looked a little flustered. She turned around and left. I watch her leave. I took this moment to look around, some people are looking at me but most are talking amongst themselves.

Eventually my eyes come upon the Cullen's table. They are all staring at the walls or the floor. They each have a full tray of food in front of them. The guys get up, grab the girls' trays and throw all of the uneaten food away. '_If they're not going to eat why did they get the food? It's a waste, to throw away all of that food. However since it's in the garbage it provides food for me later. I hate eating out of the garbage, but one must do what one must. So in a way I must thank them for they are inadvertently providing me with food.' _I stock up on food out of the garbage to eat when I am unable to fish or hunt or forage.

I realize that Edward is staring at me, and so is the blond boy whom I don't know his name yet. Actually they are all kind of looking at me. I stare back, and then turn away. I mentally blushed at being caught staring, especially at such a good looking group.

Thankfully the bell rang a couple of minutes later. I slowly gather up my stuff and head off to my locker. I still feel stares on my back. It bothers me to some extent, makes me feel self conscience. I don't have the rest of my books yet so I'm left with my binder to my math class.

Edwards' POV

So far my day has been uneventful, the same as usual. I won't meet up with the rest of the family until lunch. The mystery of the new girl has been bothering me. Why can't I read her mind, or better yet how can I feel it yet not read it? I walk into class and sit beside Bella and she greets me with a smile. This is the only class that we have together. For that I am kind of grateful, for even though we are staying friends it has been awkward with everything that has happened.

Just then the new girl comes in approaches the teacher, has him sign her slip and takes her seat behind Bella and me. We were told that the three of us are to be working together to help her get caught up. We then start to take notes for the class. The entire time I am trying to read her mind. Behind of the cloud all I sense is concentration, probably for the class. I try a little harder and I'm surprised that I feel a chill run down my back and my mind and body start to feel numb similar to what I feel coming from the girl. I also feel faint echoes of something, something I haven't truly experienced for a long time, but I don't know what it is. When the teacher told us we could get to work both Bella and I turned around and use the new girls table.

"Hi, my name is Isabella, but you call me Bella please, and this is a good friend of mine Edward." Bella said gesturing to the both of us. The new girl stopped writing looked at both of us said hello and turned back to her work. Bella and I looked at each other while she gestured for me to continue. She probably wants me to try and dazzle her.

"Well what's your name? We introduced ourselves; it would only be fair if you told us your name." I said.

"Carrie," she replied without looking up. I was surprised that she wasn't acting like all of the other girls. I decide to try again.

"What's your last name," I asked.

"Don't have one, don't use one, take your pick, it matters not," she replied again without looking up from her work. Her tone of voice bothers me, and it is so quite if it wasn't for my excellent hearing I would have missed it. The dullness makes it seem almost as if she has no feelings, like she doesn't feel anything.

And what does she mean by she doesn't have a last name or doesn't use one. She is becoming a bigger mystery than I imagined. I decide to try and catch her scent. I get the usual scents, good thing I have gotten used to Bella's' scent, it doesn't drive me crazy anymore.

I catch the scent of nature, which isn't really uncommon for these parts, but she's new here. Her scent shouldn't smell this strongly of nature, perhaps if she constantly lives outdoors, but that is impossible. What parent would allow their child to live outdoors, exposed to the elements. The smell of nature over masks her natural scent so heavily, that there is a small hint of nothingness. Again I have a sense of emptiness. But what is it that has caused this nothingness to fully embrace and smother her being.

Bella and I hesitate as to what to do next. Carrie, as we have learned her name to be, looks up at us. Her face and eyes look so empty, so dead that it bothers me. I mean, come on, I am dead and I show more expression than that.

"Don't worry about small talk. If I need your help I'll ask for it." With that said she went back to her work. Bella and I look at each other at a loss for what to do. When the bell rang I packed up for lunch and Bella went to her next class, we don't eat with each other this year for she eats before Biology.

I head off to the cafeteria building after dropping my books off at my locker. I grabbed a tray of food even though I do not eat, and I sit with my family who has done the same as me. I notice Carrie come into the cafeteria, her arms still loaded with books. I watch as she walks by people begin talking about her, she passes the food. She heads to a small table in the isolated corner. I watch as she takes her books and starts going through her homework.

I take this moment to hear what the others are saying about her. It seems that she has people afraid to approach her. They are curious but are afraid to do anything about it. They all think that she is quite cold and rude. Many believe that she is stuck up from her attitude. I believe that somewhat but I believe that there is more to it than that. '_There must be a reason for the way that she is. I wonder what it is._' I thought.

"So, what do you guys think about the new girl?" asked Alice.

"She seems real quiet," stated Emmett.

"I could care less," was Rosalie's short reply.

"She is a mystery," I supplied. "Alice do you see anything for her?"

"It has been obscured by something, but I have a feeling that she is not long for this world. I don't know why or how, I just have a feeling." she said. "I'm not sure if it's a blessing or a curse. She seems so sad. What do you feel Jasper?"

"As with her scent, and what Edward has told us about her mind, they seem covered up, buried deep within her. The shroud is so thick and dense that I can barely make out anything. I sense a few things, but what is most pronounced, from what I can guess, is pain, confusion, perhaps longing. But that is only a guess, a very big guess for I am practically getting nothing from her. Whatever is wrong it is hidden quite well." stated Jasper.

"Deep. Very deep Jasper," said Emmett. "Are you sure you're not Carlisle? You sure were channeling him there." Smack "Ouch. What was that for Rose?" he asked while rubbing the back of his head.

I turn back and watch as she finishes the homework that she has before her. Questions start to run through my head. There are the usual questions about her but now I'm questioning her actions now. '_Why is she doing her homework now, instead of socializing? Why isn't she eating lunch? Why doesn't she seem affected by me, or more precisely my ability to 'dazzle' those that I choose? Why is her presence so clouded? Why… Why… Why…__All these questions I have and it drives me mad that I am nowhere near the answers.'_

Just then a girl approached Carrie and started taking her picture. Carrie doesn't seem to do anything. I hear her say, "Please leave me be." in what I am describing as her dead voice. The girl continues to take her picture saying something about a cover story. She then starts rattling questions off left and right. Carrie just continues to sit there. She is not even looking at the photographer. She's neither posing nor smiling. "Leave" she says once again but more forcefully. The photo girl appears to be startled and leaves shortly after.

I notice that she is looking around the cafeteria. This is the only behavior that she has done that appears normal. At this moment the other guys and I throw away all of our uneaten food. When we returned I turned to look back at Carrie and see that she is staring at me. I stare back. '_Why is she staring at me? Why isn't she affected like the others? I wish she wasn't so hard to read, I can't get a thing from her.' _I can tell by now that the rest of my family is also looking at her. We all stare at each other. Carrie eventually turns away. I see no reaction from our interaction on her face. A couple of minutes later the bell rings. I watch as she gathers her things and leaves. Looks like I've got another mystery on my hands.

Carrie's POV

My next class is Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus. I love trig but I have a dislike of pre-calc. I believe that I have had a decent day thus far: however, I have decided that if I have one more class with a Cullen, I am cursed. I don't see anything wrong with them yet. They have neither proven nor disproven any of my earlier assumptions, but you know what they say about assuming.

The only thing that has surprised me so far is that barely anyone has approached me; I thought that since this was such a small school and community everyone would me coming up to me to question me. I have never been happier to be wrong because I do not like crowds, people bothering me, talking (probably because I'm not used to it). I walk into my class room and up to the teacher. He tells me to wait by his desk until class starts.

"Alright class, listen up. We have a new student, I want you to make her feel welcome." he turns to me and says, "Go ahead and introduce yourself." as he hands me the books that I'll need.

I look out at the class and I spy another Cullen, the pixie looking one. I mentally groaned. _'Why do I have to be surrounded by beautiful people, I feel bad enough already.' _"My name is Carrie, nothing more, nothing less." I said. With that I took my seat which was behind the pixie. As I sat down the teacher walked up to the board to start the lesson. '_Is it just me or does it seems like I am placed by a Cullen in every class I have one of them in? One would think that these seats would be in high demand.'_

The pixie like girl turned around to face me. "Hi," she said, "my name is Alice Cullen." she puts her hand out towards me with a big smile on her face. It was hard not smiling at her; in fact I think the corners of my mouth might have twitched. For some reason I feel, dare I say, happy, giddy. I feel like giggling and I never giggle. I hesitate to shake her hand for I'm not used to physical contact. I try not to flinch at the contact. I'm surprised to find that her hand is ice cold. I also find it weird that it's not bothering me, in fact I find it somewhat … soothing?

She smiles even brighter when I grabbed her hand. She begins to shake my hand rather enthusiastically. "So what do you have next?" she asked.

"Gym then free," I responded. I swear if her grin gets any bigger her face is going to split at the mouth.

"Great," she practically squealed. "So do my siblings and me." With that she turned her attention back onto the teacher.

'_Why is she being so kind to me? I don't deserve such kindness_.' I thought with a shake of my head. This class will prove to be interesting I'm sure. The class went by kind of fast. The teacher was reviewing for my benefit and for a quiz. I am able to take the quiz for so far everything is review for me.

When the bell rang and I started to pack my things, I nearly jumped out of my skin when Alice grabbed my arm and started to drag me to gym. When we got there I checked in with the teacher to get my slip signed. She then gave me the only uniform she had left.

Both the pants and shirt was three times too big in size. She gave me some safety pins to hold it together and on me. Then I was shown to my locker. The only girls that were near me were Alice and Rosalie; thankfully they were almost done changing. "See you out there," Alice told me. I didn't respond.

"Alright class today will be a simple run and walk." said the teacher "When I blow on this whistle you will begin the walking. When I blow it again, you will start running, then walk when I blow it again."

This is going to be difficult for me. One because I can't run, I stink at running, I never could run. Second it's going to be hard. The shirt is so big that it almost comes to my knees and is so baggy that it could fit four of me. The sleeves come to the middle of my forearm and are like giant bell sleeves. I pinned the shorts to the middle of the shirt underneath, and they still reach to mid calf. Each pant leg was big enough to be a skirt on me. In a way I'm thankful that the clothes are big enough to cover my limbs so most of my scars are hidden.

I look up and see the Cullen family is all together. Alice looks over at me, grins and waves. I'm not sure what to do so I nodded back. I see the large one, Emmett is suppressing some laughter. '_Over my attire no doubt, oh well. It's not the first, or the last time that I've been laughed at_.' I thought as I put my hair up into a high ponytail.

I feel a tapping on my shoulder and I jump/flinched at the contact for I was not expecting it. I turned around and saw that it was the female gym teacher. "I need you to fill out this form to get a properly fitting uniform." She looks down at my shoes. I looked down at them also, studying the old worn out shoes. They are so worn thin that I can see the shape of my foot, the soles are pretty much none existent, and they are held together with duck tape, string and clothes pins. What do you expect for older than dirt hand me downs? "You'll also need to get new shoes. Those are improper for class."

With that she turned around and left. '_Great_,' I thought, _'how am I going to pay for that_.' I hear a whistle and start walking around the gym. Then when we run the soles of my shoes flip flop and I often stumbled when they folded under my feet. I noticed that the Cullen's passed myself and the others several times. They never seemed to get tired or break a sweat. Another thing to be slightly envious about I guess, but I just brush it off.

I was glad when gym was over. I was sweaty, and my feet hurt from all the running and my shoes. I was also glad that we were allowed to shower before we left. I like being clean and I didn't want to smell entirely of body odor when I go to work after school. It's bad enough I plan on going dumpster diving after school, but that would be easier to clean up.

After I changed I went to my locker to grab my things then I went to drop off my slip in the main office. I decided since I still had plenty of time before I had to head to the café that I would look around. See if I can find the food dumpsters, or any food. I had to stay close to the ground along the buildings so as to not to be seen. I didn't find the dumpsters near the school so I decided to look elsewhere on the school grounds.

I eventually found a road that I followed to the back edge of the school property. It must have been my lucky day. There were three trash cans. The first one was for recyclables, the second for other, and a third just for food wastes. I thanked whosever's idea it was to have the food separated. A grabbed a bunch of paper from the recycling and stuffed it into a grocery bag that I had. After that, I pulled to garbage cloak on and grabbed another out of my bag to put food on. I grabbed only the freshest of the fruit, for that is usually a safe bet.

"Hello." I heard from behind me. I was so startled that I fell into the trash can. I waited a few seconds before I crawled out of the dumpster and put my food bag in my back pack. I briefly noted that the person who caught me was Edward Cullen. '_Darn__it, why didn't I sense his approach? I usually notice when someone is coming_,' I mentally chastised myself while I grabbed my stuff and prepared to leave when he stopped me by blocking my path. 'Why me,' I asked myself. Can't I scavenge food for myself in peace?

"Why were you digging around in the trash? That's not very clean, and I hope that you aren't going to eat any of that food are you? That's not very healthy either." he asked. I tried to leave but he stopped me again, this time by grabbing my arm. "If you don't answer me I'll have to report you." he said.

I looked him in the eye and said, "Not that it is any of your business but one must do what one must." With that I pulled out of his grasp and took off running as fast as I could. I headed out to the direction of town. I didn't stop running until the school was out of sight. '_So much for my little shower_,' I thought bitterly.

I arrived at my new place of employment, which was called Maria's. It also appeared to be the local teen hot spot after school, for I recognize a couple of faces already. I was allowed to go to the employee wash room to wash up and change into my uniform. Thankfully the uniform consisted of pants, unfortunately it included a T-shirt. At least, with the lighting the scars won't be that noticeable, and the scars on my arms are not as bad as other places. After I was done cleaning up and washing, I went to see my new boss, Meagan. She's a small petite woman, just a couple of inches shorter than my 5'4", brown hair, brown eyes, middle aged, a nice looking woman.

She looked me over and said to me, in a no nonsense tone, "All female employees must have their hair in a bun. Your father has told me that you are to be paid weekly, in cash. That is acceptable. You are to report here every weekday after school. You must be clocked in no later than 4:00, and clock out by 9:00. For now you have the weekends off. Since you are new here you will be the cleaner or bus person. This job entails that you remove the dirty dishes from the tables, wash the table, and keep the floor clean. At closing you are to take the trash out back to the dumpster. After that you are to help with the dishes. If you have any questions come to me, understood?" I nodded. "Good," she said. "Go get the broom and dust pan out of the supply closet and get to work."

So far everything has been uneventful. When school was let out the place started filling up. There were the jocks that intentionally make messes that I would have to clean up. Mike and Eric showed up with their girlfriends and friends. They invited me over to talk, but I told them I couldn't talk during work hours. During both of my fifteen minutes and one half hour break I went outside to work on my homework.

9:00 came, I took the trash out, and I was told I could go home. I changed out of my uniform and left. On the way out of town I grabbed a broken tree limb from the side of the road; I might have need of it. It was pitch black out, and I was having trouble seeing where I was going. I just stayed along side of the road, that way and don't get lost. I was passed by a car once on the way home. The driver was going at a reckless speed. I didn't think much on it. I was tired and didn't really care at the moment.

I got home by 10:15. I put my bag beside the house and took my post beside the house. The only thing that I was 'asked' to do was to re-lace all of Thom's' and Liz's' shoes and get started on washing their clothes, starting with the new ones. I could do that for the wash room was separate from the house, which I am not allowed to enter. I was dismissed by 11:45. I left what was completed on the porch, grabbed my bag and started my trek to my den.

It's a good thing that I learned the layout of my home, I knew where everything was at. I thanked my good judgment about gathering wood to dry, and using my flint and a pocket knife I showered some sparks onto the paper that I gathered earlier. With the fire I have some warmth and light with which to finish my homework with.

While waiting for the fire to build up I took my new food supply a placed it into my den; I was able to gather some 6 apples, 4 pears, 2 bananas, and a loaf of bread, half a box of crackers, and even some beef jerky. I had enough for a feast. I grabbed the older apple from my old stash, 2 slices of bread and a couple inches of beef jerky. I figured that I could eat a little more than usual since I found a good place to get food, but I'll still stock up, and hunt and fish.

I left my 'school clothes' in my little shed area so they wouldn't get too dirty. That basically left me in my pj's and under clothes (the tank and shorts from earlier). I noticed that it was a little after midnight. I decided that with the showers in school after gym I wouldn't need to bathe in the pond tonight. I might as well use the hot water that the school provides, right?

I sat there before the fire wrapped in my blanket finishing my home work. I was starting to get a head ache from being tired and reading in the fire light, but I was able to get my work done. I looked at my watch and noticed that it was going on 1:00 in the morning. I set my alarm to go off at five; I decided to keep the fire going and let it burn itself out, that way in the morning I might have some warmth. With that I went into my den and went to sleep.

REVIEW PLEASE


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING:** FARAMIRIEL, RATGIRL407, LADY DIA, SHARON H, RENEE HEX, VAMPRESS HOTTIE, CHIKA1345**

Chapter 5 Ponderings

Edward's POV

I just can't explain what I'm feeling. There is just something about her, about Carrie that calls me to her. It's similar to what I felt for Bella, but different. I feel like I'm being pulled in, yet more forcefully pushed away. I feel like I'm sort of going into frenzy, so to speak, yet being calmed at the same time. For some reason my family and I are being called and I want to know why.

And there is also Alice's vision that has been plaguing my thoughts. There is the usual, 'what does it mean?' But …I don't know we need more clues. I'll have Alice take another look in gym. My mind is wondering back to Carrie again. It's weird that she was all alone; don't humans, especially girls, crave and need interaction? It is also kind of curious that the other students aren't swarming all over her. Usually when there is someone knew, everyone is all over them like a new toy. Not this time though. Why is that? There are so many questions, but so little answers.

Gym

My siblings and I all have gym together, and I'm glad for that for the only competition we have is each other. I sense Alice approach and I look up. I'm surprised to see Alice dragging Carrie toward the gym by her sweater. As a rule we usually avoid contact with humans, so why is Alice breaking the rule? _Why is she being so forward with someone we don't know?_

We were all standing near the corner waiting for Alice to come out. The boys have a uniform of white T-shirts and blue shirts, both have the school emblem on them. The girl's uniform is the same but with red shorts. I see Alice come toward us with what appeared to be a distraught, yet in a way thoughtful look on her face.

"What's wrong Alice," Jasper asked.

"There's something about her," she was mumbling.

"About who," questioned Rosalie with a somewhat narrowed expression. (She left just as Carrie came to her locker.)

Alice looked up and blinked as if she just realized where she was. "Carrie," she replied.

"What about her," I asked.

"I had a vision about her. She appeared to be underground, in a hole of some sort. I couldn't see her face, but…" she said.

"But what," Emmett asked

"She was crying," she said. "However, one set of tears were crystalline, normal. The others were…crimson, like blood."

At that moment I, and apparently the others, felt a little tug. We looked up and saw Carrie come out of the girl's locker room. She looked so… odd, so … small in the oversized uniform. I heard snickers coming from Emmett. I turned to look and saw that Emmett was trying to smother his laughter, glancing occasionally at Carrie.

I look over her again. The shirt was so large on her that it appeared that it could fit a few more people her size in it, and it came down to about her knees. Her shorts appeared to be pinned to her shirt. The legs were large enough to be a dress themselves, and they came to around mid calve. I could also see faint marks on her legs. They were so large that it could have been a trick of the light.

"Look away," said Alice. I did so, still watching out of the corner of my eye. I notice Alice turn toward her, smile and wave. I see Carrie is a bit unsure and slightly confused and curious of the action and stiffly nod back. She turns away and begins to pull up her hair.

I'm slightly surprised by her hair. It was of a rich auburn color, meaning that it has strands of blond, brown and red. There appeared to be several shades of these colors, quite unusual for a human. The length surprises me also. It's so long; even with it up it easily reaches her hips. Upon closer inspection, I can see the flaws of her hair. It hasn't been properly cared for. It doesn't seem to have been cut or properly cleaned. If it has been properly cared for, it could come close to rivaling Rosalie's golden locks.

I notice the girls gym teacher approach Carrie and when the teacher tapped her on the shoulder, I'm slightly surprised by her reaction. She jumps and moves away from who touched her. She turns around to face who touched her. I watch as they converse and Carrie fills out a form. Then the teacher looks down and motions to her feet, and Carrie looks down also. I also look down. On her feet I see what is supposed to be shoes, but I see rags, scraps. The only thing that is holding the shoes together is duct tape. '_If those are shoes, they should have been thrown out long ago._' I thought.

I listened to the teacher give us instructions on what we are supposed to do, and followed the instructions. I'm watching Carrie the whole time. I can hear the flip flop of her shoes as she walks. As we begin to run I continue to watch her. I watched as she constantly trip because of her shoes. But I hear something else that alarms me somewhat. Even though we have just begun running she is already wheezing, as if she can't breathe. And if I listen carefully I can hear her heart beat, which was beating erratically. '_Is she so out of shape that this is getting to her so much that her body can barely handle it?_'

Naturally my siblings and I were faster and better off than the others. But for some reason I could not stop myself from slowing down when I approached Carrie. I would slow down as I approached her and picked my speed back up when I was around ten feet past her. I was also watching her while I ran. I watched as she became paler and sweat started to form upon her brow. The entire time we were running though she kept her eyes about six feet in front of her on the ground, zoning out into her own little world, unaware of what was happening around her. It was as if she was on auto pilot.

I was waiting in the corridor for the others and for the bell to dismiss us from class. Again Alice was the last to come out and again she looked troubled. "What's wrong Alice," I asked.

"I smelled blood while showering." she said, "It was old blood though."

"Do you need to go hunting?" asked Jasper.

"Not really and that's weird." she said.

"Why would that be weird," asked Rosalie.

"Well, it was coming from the stall that Carrie went into to shower. But the weird thing is that when I smelled it I didn't become thirsty, but I felt angry. Angry that I could smell her blood, that her blood had been spilt. That's the weird part." Alice said.

"I think we ought to tell Carlisle about this. He might know something." suggested Rosalie. "This could be dangerous, a trap or something." With that everyone went to their lockers to get their things and I headed to the car.

While I was waiting for the others some movement caught my attention. I saw Carrie creeping around the school. Curious, I followed her. Her movements reminded me of someone trying to sneak up on something, hunting in a way. I followed her all around the school and she never seemed to notice me. Most don't considering what I am. After she made a complete circuit she seemed disappointed. She also appeared thoughtful for a moment before she headed out in a random direction.

She eventually came across the service road that leads toward the dumpsters, and she headed in their direction. When she came upon the dumpsters I was shocked by her reaction, she was … happy? Why would she be happy that she came upon dumpsters? I watched in confusion as she takes a bunch of paper out of the recycling and puts it in her bag. I was even more confused when she put on the garbage bag that I saw her wearing this morning. I was shocked when she went up and started digging around in the trash. '_What does she think she is doing? Why is she digging in the garbage_? I noticed that she is taking food from the garbage and putting it in a small grocery bag that she was holding.

"Hello." I said. _'What am I doing, when did I approach her, why did I approach her_.' I must have startled her for she had fallen head first into the trash. I have to admit, that was kind of funny. After a few seconds she crawled out of the dumpster and put the food bag into her back pack. I briefly noted that she seemed angry and flustered and… was that a blush I saw spreading across her cheeks. She tried to leave but I blocked her path.

"Why were you digging around in the trash? That's not very clean, and I hope that you aren't going to eat any of that food are you? That's not very healthy either." I asked.

'_Why am I so concerned? Why am I talking to her_?' She tried to leave but I stopped her again, this time by grabbing her arm. "If you don't answer me I'll have to report you." I said. '_Why am I doing this_?'

She looked me in the eye and said, "Not that it is any of your business but one must do what one must." Her response and tone startled me so much so that she could easily escape from my loosened grip. I watched as she ran off toward town as fast as she could.

'_What does that mean I wonder?_' Even more questions and even less answers. I walked back to my car while pondering the mystery that was Carrie.

"Where were you Edward? Not doing something you aren't supposed to do were you, because we saw Carrie running away from here as fast as she could." questioned Emmett.

"I'll tell you when we get home," I told them. I wanted to think about what just happened before I spoke to them about it.

Cullen House

"Welcome home dears. How was your day?" Esme asked with a smile on her lovely face.

"Ok I guess," I replied. "Is Carlisle home, we need to have a discussion." I asked my tone light so I do not to worry her.

"I'll go get him and we'll meet up with you in the living room." she responded then turned to head up the stairs towards Carlisle's study.

"Well, what is it that you need to talk to us about?" Carlisle asked as we all took a seat in the living room for the family discussion.

"You remember Alice's vision from this morning, right?" I asked and he nodded affirmatively. "Well about halfway to town we all felt this tug on our beings. Alice had a vision that basically said that whatever we've been waiting for has arrived. Also at that time we passed a figure along side of the road. I thought that it was a homeless person. She was covered in a garbage bag and what clothes I could see were rags. I later found out that the figure we passed was a new student. We heard from Bella that she just moved here with her family. She said that Charlie received a shock when she carried the furniture into the house by herself. First that put us on edge because how many people have that kind of strength. When we finally saw her we were surprised. She was pale and had dark circles under her eyes. First we thought another vampire, but she isn't."

"Why isn't she," asked Esme her head tilted mimicking the human habit perfectly.

"She isn't extraordinarily beautiful, she was quite average looking." Rosalie responded while flicking a piece of her blonde hair over her shoulder.

"There is also something about her that seems off." Jasper brought up and they were all reminded about their talk in the cafeteria earlier in the day.

"What do you mean Jasper?" Carlisle asked while bringing his fingers together over his lap, an action that denotes his interest.

"Well," Jasper paused, having difficulty explaining. "It's almost as if she was dead. Her face and eyes have no expression. Her voice is so soft that without our hearing it would be hard to hear her, and it lacks emotion, her voice is quite flat. Her emotions are blanketed in a fog so thick that I can barely feel anything from her. But if I concentrated hard enough I could feel whispers of them. And even so they were covered by something. It kind of felt a bit like depression and overwhelming pain."

Everyone took a moment to let what Jasper said sink in. "It's the same with me," I added. "I couldn't read her mind. I could connect with it, but I couldn't read it. I couldn't hear any thoughts. I could feel, almost see a thick fog around her mind, and I felt numb. Numbness surrounds her mind and I'm guessing it has spread to her body."

"What would cause that I wonder," asked Rosalie.

"I have an idea, but I dare not speculate." said Carlisle. We all looked at him questioningly. He closed his eyes, sighed and shook his head. "I won't tell you now, for there is no absolute proof of it. But keep an eye on her. Does any one of you have classes with her?"

"Second Latin," stated Emmett.

"Third chemistry/physics," said Rosalie.

"Fourth biology and we all have lunch at the same time." I said.

"I have seventh Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus," stated Alice. "She also has gym and free period with us."

"Tell me more of what you have observed," Carlisle demanded kindly.

"Well," I said, "at lunch she sat alone, didn't eat, she doesn't seem to like attention, and at times she seems unsure of how to act."

"In math, she seemed confused when I was smiling at her. She didn't flinch or anything when she shook my hand. Her hands were really calloused come to think of it. But she practically jumped out of her skin when I grabbed her sweater sleeve to pull her with me to gym." said Alice.

"She even jumped when the teacher tapped her on the shoulder," I said remembering the incident in gym class.

"She probably comes from a poor family," Emmett said. "Her clothes weren't of the greatest quality. They seemed as if they were once large hand me downs."

"And her shoes were basically nothing but duct tape," I said. "She kept on tripping over them when we were running."

"Anything else," asked Carlisle.

"A few more things," said Alice. "Like with her emotions, and mind, her scent seems to be fogged over. It was also over powered by the scent of nature and earth. Enough of it as if she lives in a hole in the ground, which might be proven by a vision I had."

"What vision?" Esme asked.

"Well, she appeared to be in a hole in the ground. I couldn't see her face, but I saw her crying. The right side the tears were normal, on the left however, they were crimson. It's unusual for me to have a vision like that, for it seemed like I was seeing her future in a different way than usual." Alice said.

"It had a chilling effect. I felt a chill run down my spine." I said. "She also doesn't use her last name," I mumbled, but they heard it.

"What?" Carlisle asked.

"Well, when Bella and I tried to introduce ourselves and we tried to find out her last name she said, 'don't have one, don't use one, take your pick.' I even tried dazzling her and she didn't seem affected," I told him. Carlisle looked thoughtful.

"One last thing," Alice added. "When she was showering, I smelled old blood coming off of her form, and the weird thing is that instead of her blood making me thirsty, I felt angry that I could smell her blood. I also think she relaxed enough that I could smell more pain coming from her."

"I wonder why she was digging in the trash though," I said without realizing it drawing everyone's attention to myself.

"What do you mean 'digging in the trash'" Rosalie asked with a disgusted look on her face.

Everyone was looking at me curiously. "Well," I paused for a moment looking to place my thoughts in order, "while I was waiting for you I saw Carrie sneaking around the school. I followed her and she eventually came to the dumpsters. She took a bunch of paper out of the recycling and put it in her bag. She then put the garbage bag from this morning on and started digging through the food trash. She was putting food in another store bag. When I confronted her about it, asked why she was digging in the trash and if she was going to eat the food. She stared me in the eye and said, 'Not that it is any of your business but one must do what one must.' and then she took off towards town."

"Are you sure she has a home?" Carlisle asked concern written all over his face. It was just like Carlisle to be concerned over someone he had never met.

"Yeah, Bella said that she and her family moved into the house just down the road, about an hour's walk from town." said Emmett. "What are you thinking Carlisle?"

"I'm thinking," He said, "that since she does go to school and she does have an address, that she isn't homeless. The clothes and food out of the trash and not eating lunch could be because her parents can't afford any, but they bought a house so they should have enough money for that." He paused, "The only thing that is left is abuse and or abandonment."

"What do you mean," Alice and I said together.

"Well think about it," Carlisle said, "Flinching at being touched. It could be that she's not used to being touched, or she associates touch with pain, or a combination of both. She steals food so she can eat; she may not being fed. The hand me downs could be just that or what she has found on her own."

"That's awful," Esme said her voice heartbroken for the girl.

"I'm sorry dear. There is nothing that we can do about it for now, especially since it's speculation." Carlisle faced them again, "I want you to keep an eye on her. If things get worse I want you to help her."

"Why would someone do that, especially to their own child," demanded Esme she could never understand why someone would harm their own child. It was her greatest wish to have a baby of her own, but being what she is she cannot. There have been rumors of vampires having children but no proof has been found. It was unfair that people who did not deserve the gift of bearing life could and others who would treat their baby well could not.

"I don't know dear, I don't know," Carlisle said in a soft tone knowing that this subject was a sore one for some more than others.

PLEASE REVIEW


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullen's haven't left.

ALRIGHT TIME TO THANK THOSE OF YOU THAT HAVE REVIEWED CHAPTER FIVE. A BIG THANKS TO:

VAMPRESS HOTTIE

RENEE HEX

RATGIRL407

FARAMIRIEL

RHI17 SORRY IF I GOT THAT WRONG

CHIKA1345

ALSO AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER THERE WILL BE A POLL TO VOTE FOR THE NAME OF A FUTURE CHAPTER SO TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK OF THE CHAPTER AND CAST YOUR VOTE

VALLEYGOAT ^_^

Ch 6 Getting To Know You

Carrie POV

_Beep, Beep, Beep, Be-. _The sounds of my watch echoed through my sleep filled mind shaking me from the blissfulness of my unconscious state. I opened my eyes with a tired sigh four hours of sleep just does not work. With a defeated yawn I got out of my make-shift bed and stretched my tired muscles. Before I did anything I decided to see if I could find any shoes around the house that were unwanted, and just my luck there were some near the garbage pile in the front yard. They were a pair of summer shoes, thin, not waterproof, but they weren't so worn out that they were being held together by duct tape. So far my luck has been holding out and for that I am thankful.

I went back to my area and looked around and started to think then. Since I have food, I'm going to have to seal up my den during the day so nothing can get in and to my store. A rock would be best especially if it was placed in such a way where I can squeeze in and nothing else much larger than me. And if I had some branches or something set up inside to stop or slow down smaller animals, and if they get trapped inside I have meat. To be on the safe side I need to find a way to seal up my food. Maybe I could get a small chest in here. The question is where to find it. I think I'll get to work on it this weekend.

I went back into my den and grabbed a banana, two slices of bread and a handful of crackers. I went out and sat by the smoldering fire to try and warm up. With the smokeless fire I might be able to have one in my den when winter comes. Winter was something that I needed to think about and prepare for soon if I wanted to survive. Winters are harsher in areas such as these so I would need to be prepared to fight off the elements. I ate my breakfast, brushed my teeth, washed, and changed.

It wasn't raining when I left so I had only my sweater on. For some reason I was in a good mood, which was very rare, so I was humming a random tune. I heard a noise approaching and I saw a silver Volvo drive by. I recognized it as the Cullen's' vehicle. '_Why must they drive so fast? It's not as if they were going to be late or anything. I have a greater chance of being late because I walk.'_

By the time I got to the school I made sure that all traces of my good mood were gone from my face. In English we got our new reading and writing assignment. We were to read Jane Smiley's' A Thousand Acres and write an essay on how it compares and contrasts with Shakespeare' King Lear**. **Great it's the original and the retelling project. In Latin we were given the story of Daimion which we had to translate.

"Alright class, get with your partners and get translating, and remember this is what Simon says." said Ms. Simon. I told you she was crazy. Emmett came over and pulled a desk right next to me. He was too close for comfort so I turned my desk so we were face to face.

"What? Was I invading your personal space?" he asked his tone jovial.

"You do the first paragraph and I'll do the one after that. We'll do the first two pages for tomorrow." I told him and the entire time he tried to strike up conversation, but it didn't go anywhere. He also seemed to watch what my reaction was to everything. '_Well I've been told that I look like a depressed teenager. With my life, what's there to be depressed about?'_ Please note that I am using sarcasm.

In chemistry, even Rosalie who I pictured as an uncaring person of those she does not like, was questioning me. Even though she seemed reluctant about it and like Emmett she kept at it. She was asking about my family, I told her that they seem happy. When she asked me how I was, I told her that I'm alive. I really ought to stop talking; I never talk this much to anyone before.

When I entered biology class and took my seat behind Edward and Bella. Bella turned around and said to me, "Hey Carrie, how do you like Forks so far?"

"It's ok I guess. It seems nicer than most places that I have been." I replied out of courtesy.

"What do you like about it?" questioned Edward looking truly interested.

I hesitate before answering. '_Why am I doing _this,' I questioned myself. "I like the rain." I told him.

"What do you like about it?" he asked me. What is it with this family and asking me all kinds of nonsense questions?

I sent him a questioning look, wondering why he and the rest of his family seem so curious about me. What is so interesting about me? 'Absolutely nothing,' I thought still looking at Edward.

"It's alright there is nothing to be worried about. He was sort of the same way with me when I moved here last year." Bella told me.

I took a deep breath and sighed before I answered him. "I like the rain because it's cleansing. I feel clean and untainted. I like the rain, because I love how the sky looks during a storm. I like the rain for there is a smaller chance of sun, like my life as it has been and always will be." I whispered the last part to myself.

"What was that you said about the sun," Bella asked.

"Sunlight gives me a headache most of the time." I told her. With that I turned my attention back to the teacher and ignoring Edward and Bella.

If I was surprised by the Cullen's behavior toward me so far, I was really shocked by what was to happen next. On my way out of biology Edward came up beside me and walked with me toward lunch. I could feel everyone's eyes on us as we walked to the cafeteria. There's going to be some interesting rumors going around now. I head toward the table that I sat at yesterday in the same seat. Edward sat his stuff down and went to get his lunch.

I watched in confusion and slight shock as they rest of his family came to my table and did the same as Edward. I just shrugged it off and got started on the homework that I already had for tonight. They all came back to the table with their food and sat down. They didn't say anything as I looked at each of them. I could tell I had a look of confusion on my face as I gazed upon them. I shrugged and turn backed to my work. This was after all a public place and I did not own this table.

"You don't mind if we sit here do you?" asked Edward his tone had a strange timber in it. If I did not know any better I would say that he was trying to 'charm' me.

"Do what you want, it matters not." I told them without stopping my work. I knew it was rude, but I could not really afford to waste time with idle chatter. Not if I wanted to get any sleep tonight.

"I have my part of the first two pages done of the translation." Emmett told me while handing me what I assumed was the translation. I took it, copied the translation, and handed it back with a quite thanks.

"Do you have your part done yet?" he asked when he accepted the paper back.

"Not yet, but you will have it before class tomorrow." I told him. Things were quite for a moment. I could feel that they were curious about me and watching me while I work.

"Do you want to come with us and Bella to the café after school," asked Edward his tone friendly.

"I can't, I have to work after school." I told him. It was quite for a while and I continued to do my homework. Of course the silence could not last.

"So why aren't you eating anything Carrie." asked Alice.

"I'm not hungry," I told them. When in reality I was hungry and I was thankful for the noise in the cafeteria so they couldn't hear my stomach growl at that moment. "Besides I could ask you the same thing." _Oh my God why did I do that? Why am I carrying on a conversation? I'm not supposed to be seen or heard.'_

"What do you mean by that," questioned Jasper.

"I mean that you guys get food, but you don't eat it. Why buy the food if you're not going to eat it? It is not only a waste of money; it is also a waste of food. Each of your meals could feed someone less fortunate. Some people would give anything to just have one meal like that, or just to have food." I paused. '_You don't realize how fortunate you are._'

"Is that why you were digging in the trash?" Rosalie asked her tone snippy.

I stopped working because of the shock of hearing that statement. I was surprised that was brought up. I've never had anyone question me about it. I also have never been caught either. I looked up to glare at Rosalie. '_Wow another emotion; I've been feeling a lot of those lately_.' My response was, "Well if your brother told you about that, then ask him what I told him about it" With that said I got up, gathered my things and headed outside for the rest of the period.

In math I ignored Alice, and I ignored all the Cullen's in gym by trying to stay as far away from them as I could. The teacher wasn't a hundred percent happy with my shoes, but said that they would do. Alice didn't try to hang around me in the locker room, she gave me some space. I didn't say anything to her and changed when I thought she wasn't looking. I use my free period as a study hall to get my work done. After school I went to the garbage to dig up more grub. I ate one of the apples I found on my way to work.

At work it was the same as yesterday. I was cleaning a table when I heard Megan call out to me. "Hey Carrie, go clean off one of the larger tables, we have a large group here." She turned back to the group and told them to follow me to their table. When I finished I turned around and saw that the group was the Cullen's plus Bella. I motioned for them to take their seats.

On the left was Alice, Bella, with Edward on the end. On the right were Rosalie, Emmett then Jasper. I left so their waitress could take their orders. During my break I sat in a secluded corner since it was raining heavily outside. I finished my part of the translation and handed it Emmett as my break ended, because the group was still there.

Since the group was still there I went over to collect any dirty dishes from their table so they would have more room. The only person who had anything was Bella. '_Do the Cullen's ever eat? Bella acts like it is normal behavior. Oh well.' _Even as I dismiss it I could not help but file it in the 'weird' section of my mind.

When I reached across, I tried to hurry, so I wouldn't be in their way and so that my scars wouldn't stand out. As I went to pull away Edward grabbed my wrist. I flinched at the contact. I went to look at him just to see him staring at my arm.

"Can I help you," I asked him. He just continued to stare at my arm.

"So, when do you get off work Carrie?" Jasper asked. He seemed to be trying to keep his eyes off of the arm that Edward was holding.

"I get off at nine," I told him. I flinched away as Edward reached out for my other arm. Everyone seemed to be looking at my arms. Bella looked to see what had everyone's attention. She gasped as she saw my arms. '_Gees what's wrong them. They act like they haven't seen scars or burns before.'_

"Carrie, how did you get those marks on your arms?" Bella asked. She seemed close to going into hysterics.

"I'm clumsy and accidents happen." I told them while still trying to pull out of Edwards grasp. It was harder than it should have been since I was trying to keep my mind off of how nice it actually felt.

"Your arms are practically covered in scars and burn marks though," Rosalie stated while leaning closer to get a better look.

"Yeah well, I'm pretty clumsy." I told them still trying to escape. Edward let go of one arm and reached up as if he was going to pull up my sleeve.

"Carrie, get back to work. I don't pay you to socialize." my boss Megan yelled to me. That seemed to startle Edward enough that I was able to pull out of his grasp and get back to work. They left the café a short time later.

The rest of the night was uneventful. I finished up at work, clocked out at nine, and got home by ten, dismissed at around eleven thirty, ate a stick of jerky and some bread and was finally in bed by one.

Edward's POV

Today is the day that I would try to get some answers about Carrie. Every one decided to try and talk to Carrie in class to discover if Carlisle's assumption was correct. We are all kind of confused as to why we are doing this, but we cannot deny the pull that we feel, drawing us toward her.

On the way to school we passed by Carrie. There appeared to be smile on her face.

"Jasper what did you get from her," I asked.

"She seems happy about something," he responded. '_What is she happy about_?'

I watched as she walked toward the school from next to my car. All traces of happiness from earlier are gone from her face. Her face is blank as usual. I follow her as she goes to her locker and heads to her first class, which I discovered was English. I know Emmett and Rosalie would get her first so I had to be patient. Biology came and I took my seat watching the door.

She walked in and took her seat behind Bella and I. Bella turned to her and said, "Hey Carrie, how do you like Forks so far?"

"It's ok I guess. It seems nicer than most places that I have been." she replied.

"What do you like about it?" I asked.

She seemed to hesitate before answering, "I like the rain."

"What do you like about it?" I questioned her.

She gave me a questioning look. I could faintly see confusion and slight curiosity. Bella must have seen the look on her face for she said, "It's alright there is nothing to be worried about. He was sort of the same way with me when I moved here last year."

She took a deep breath before answering. "I like the rain because it's cleansing. I feel clean and untainted. I like the rain, because I love how the sky looks during a storm. I like the rain for there is a smaller chance of sun, like my life as it has been and always will be." My curiosity was sparked again with her last whispered remark.

"What was that you said about the sun," Bella asked.

"Sunlight gives me a headache most of the time." She told Bella. She turned her attention back to the teacher.

When she left class I decided to walk with her to the cafeteria. She seemed to be surprised by my actions but she didn't say anything. I followed her to the table she sat at yesterday. I set my stuff down and grabbed lunch, my siblings were to do the same thing. We were each to get something different and maybe try to get Carrie to eat or at least take some food so she won't have to go digging in the trash. When we came back to the table and sat down. Carrie looked at us briefly with a look of confusion before shrugging and going back to her homework.

"You don't mind if we sit here do you?" I asked trying to sound a little compelling so she would not refuse my request.

"Do what you want, it matters not." she told us without stopping her work.

"I have my part of the first two pages done of the translation." Emmett told her. He handed her what I assumed was the translation. She took it, copied it and handed it back to Emmett with subdued thanks.

"Do you have your part done yet?" he asked.

"Not yet, but you will have it before class tomorrow." she told him. Things were quite for a moment. We were watching her, trying to figure out how to get answers out of her and to help her if she is in some kind of trouble. Then I remembered that we were going to go to Maria's after school with Bella, and decided to ask her if she wanted to come along.

"Do you want to come with us and Bella to the café after school," I asked my tone friendly.

"I can't, I have to work after school." she told me. It was quite for a while for we were again unsure of what to do or say.

"So why aren't you eating anything Carrie." asked Alice.

"I'm not hungry," she said, but I could have sworn that I heard her stomach growl just then. "Besides I could ask you the same thing." she seemed surprised or shocked at what she just said. '_Why would she be?_'

"What do you mean by that," questioned Jasper.

"I mean that you guys get food, but you don't eat it. Why buy the food if you're not going to eat it. It is not only a waste of money; it is also a waste of food. Each of your meals could feed someone less fortunate. Some people would give anything to just have one meal like that, or just to have food." Carrie said.

"Is that why you were digging in the trash?" asked Rosalie.

She stopped working after Rosalie said that, we all turned to Rosalie and glared at her. We weren't the only ones. Carrie looked at her also with a glare on her face. I felt a slight chill at her anger. "Well if your brother told you about that, then ask him what I told him about it" With that said she got up, gathered her things and headed out of the cafeteria.

"Nice going Rosalie. We are supposed to make things better not worse." I told her my voice angry. I had not wanted her to know that I had told them of her dumpster diving.

"Why are we helping her anyways? She is a human, she is not one of us." she snapped.

"With your history, we figured that you would want to help." Emmett brought up.

"How dare you," sneered Rosalie. "It's not the same. I would have been fine; I didn't ask for this, you know that. Besides, how do we know what she wants?"

"Calm down Rosalie, we didn't mean it like that," Jasper said, trying to calm her down.

"What about Alice's vision about the tears."

"I think we should back off a little bit, she might be a bit of overwhelmed right know. You saw how confused she was. She hid it well, but few things get past our eyes and senses." Alice said. We decided that that was the best for now. So when gym came around we saw that she wanted to avoid us so we kept our distance.

"What did you see Alice," I asked. She was supposed to see if she could see anything.

"Nothing really, she dresses quite fast for a human, but I couldn't really tell anything in the locker rooms lighting, and with her skin tone. Mainly she was changed before I could see anything. There appears to be some marks on her arms and legs, but she kept herself hidden most of the time." she said.

I noticed that she had 'new' shoes, but they were still inappropriate for class and the area in which we live. They were thin summer shoes, which appeared not to be the right size. '_At least they are not held together by duct tape.' _After gym I looked around the property to see if she was out. I went out to the dumpsters and waited in the trees to see if she would come out today. She didn't by the time school let out, so I headed out to my car to wait for everyone.

Alice rode with Bella to Maria's, while everyone else traveled with me. We walked up to the hostess, Megan, so we could be shown to our table.

"Hey Carrie, go clean off one of the larger tables, we have a large group here." She called out. '_So this is where she works,' _I thought_. _She told us to follow her to our table. Carrie cleaned off our table and motioned for us to take our seats. On the left was Alice, Bella, with me on the end. On the right were Rosalie, Emmett then Jasper. Carrie left so the waitress could take our orders. I watched Carrie as she worked. She cleaned the floors and the tables and picked up the dirty dishes.

During her break she sat in a secluded corner and worked on her homework. She finished something and walked over to our table. She handed something to Emmett. It must have been her part of the translation that she was talking about earlier. I was surprised to find out she wrote in cursive since I haven't seen her writing before. It would look better if it wasn't so rushed.

After some time she came over to our table to collect Bella's' dirty dishes. It appeared that she was trying to be quick about it, but when she went to pull back I saw her arm I was shocked, I didn't even realize that I grabbed her arm until she tried to pull out of my grip.

"Can I help you," she asked. I just continued to stare at her arm. I was getting angry at what I was seeing. Her arm was nothing but scars and burns.

"So, when do you get off work Carrie?" Jasper asked. I could tell that he was trying to keep his sight off of her arms. I could feel my thirst get greater the longer I look at her arms.

"I get off at nine," I heard her say. I went to reach for her other arm to see what condition it was in. I didn't get past my attention that she flinched away as I reached out toward her. I could sense my siblings also looking at her arms. I felt Bella turn around and heard her gasp as she saw Carrie's arms. The other one was just as bad. It was scars upon scars, spotted with burn marks of various shapes and sizes.

"Carrie, how did you get those marks on your arms?" Bella asked. She seemed close to going into hysterics.

"I'm clumsy and accidents happen." Carrie replied while still trying to get out of my grasp. I continued to turn her arms over, studying all of the marks.

"Your arms are practically covered in scars and burn marks though," Rosalie stated while leaning closer to get a better look.

"Yeah well, I'm pretty clumsy." she stated. I let go of one arm and reached up to pull up one sleeve to see how high it goes and how it looks.

"Carrie, get back to work. I don't pay you to socialize." I heard Megan yell. That reminded me of where we were and I let go of her. I watched as she walked away, slightly flustered and gripping her arms and got back to work. I was really angry at what I saw and that was increasing my thirst.

"Did you see her arms? If that isn't proof, I don't know what is." Emmett said his usually loud boisterous voice low with concern.

"What's going on?" asked Bella. Alice decided to fill her in. "I should tell Charlie."

"Don't Bella, that could make things worse." said Rosalie.

"But it could help" Bella pleaded.

"We're not completely sure about that," I said. I turned toward her and continued, "Don't do anything Bella, and don't say anything. We are going to do what we can." With that we all left. Carlisle asked about today and we told him and Esme what we found out. Afterwards my siblings and I went out on a long hunt.

WELL THERE IS CHAPTER SIX, I HOPE YOU LIKED IT.

OK AS I MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS CHAPTER THERE IS GOING TO BE A POLL TO DETERMINE THE NAME OF A FUTURE CHAPTER. THE CHOICES ARE:

I'M IN HELL -

IT BEGINS -

DARKEST DAYS -

OTHER - YOU SUBMIT SUGGESTIONS

OK AS LAST TIME I WANT 5-10 REVIEWS BEFORE I UPDATE SO READ AND REVIEW PLEASE (EVERYONE, I KNOW WHEN YOU DON'T). DON'T FORGET TO VOTE.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

A BIG THANKS TO THOSE OF YOU THAT REVIEWED:

RENEE HEX

RATGIIRL407

RHI17

ANIHITACHIINLOVER

VAMPRESS HOTTIE

FARAMIRIEL

CHIKA1345

THE POLL RESULTS THUS FAR WILL BE POSTED AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY PEOPLE! YEAH FIREWORKS ^_^

Ch 7 Compromise

Carrie POV

'_Is it the weekend yet_,' I thought to myself as I got ready for school. Since I was having trouble waking up I decided to take a dip in the pond. Let me tell you, that sure woke me up, and I didn't stay in there for very long. I grabbed a pear and some bread and headed on my way to school.

It has been a couple of weeks since we moved here. The Cullen's have been sticking close to me for a while now. I would spot them watching me as I walked to class. They still sat with me at lunch. They didn't buy the big lunches anymore.

I was surprised when I saw Edward standing at the end of the drive way. I stood there staring for a moment then I walked quickly by him. He came up and walked beside me, I continued to eat my pear and bread.

"What can I do for you Mr. Edward Cullen?" I asked though my tone did not reflect it I was curious.

"I'm curious about you." he told me nothing in his tone that denoted he was joking.

"Why are you curious about me? What is there to be curious about?" I asked him totally confused. There was nothing about me to be curious about, disgusted maybe, but curious definitely not.

"I'm drawn to you," he told me. "You are not like other girls, other people. I also feel a connection to you that I have only felt once, but it also feels different." Everything about him said he was being honest. But I just could not see what he was talking never mind believe it.

"Is that so," I asked skeptically.

"You doubt what I say," he asked his tone clearly offended.

"I have learned to trust nothing and no one other then myself. Right now I am mentally hitting myself for even talking to you, but something is telling me to trust you. Something is telling me there is something dark about you, but I feel as though I could help the darkness, that I am supposed to help the darkness." I paused. "How did you know where I live anyways?"

"Bella told me, her father is the chief of police." he informed me.

"So what do I get out of this?" He looked at me with curiosity. "You get your answers and your curiosity is sated. I'm asking you what I get." I asked as I looked at him.

"How about this, you get some friends that will always be there for you, like a family." Edward told me looking into my eyes.

I tossed the pear core into the trees and let out a hearty laugh, "Ha! 'Other friends have flown before; on the morrow he will leave me as my hopes have flown before.' Are you telling this soul with sorrow laden about a distant Aidenn?"(E. A. Poe The Raven) I teased him. I couldn't help it. It felt so easy to banter with him, and/or Alice around.

He looked at me with a slightly shocked expression, and then he smiled. I couldn't help but smile back. "Is that all you are going to eat," he asked.

"It's more than what I'm used to eating. The last place that I lived I ate about twice a week. It's not a very well balanced diet that I have. I mostly eat fruit and bread, which keeps the longest. I haven't had the time to hunt for any meat; I might do that this weekend, that way I get some protein in me." I told him.

"Why don't you get food from the pantry or buy some food with money you get from work?" he asked.

"I have not set foot in that house since we moved in and that was to clean it up and move the furniture in. As for the money, I don't see a dime of it. I'm supposed to get paid weekly in cash, I'm only allowed to by school supplies, or certain products. Then I am supposed to show Thomas what I bought and the receipt, and then give the rest of the money to him." I told him.

"Where do you stay if not in the house?" Edward questioned.

"I stay in an abandoned den that I found not far from the house. It's far enough away that the house cannot be seen, but I can hear if I get called." I said. _'Why am I telling him this? Why am I so loose lipped around him and his family?'_

"What is your day like," Edward asked.

"Well I get up at five, leave for school by six, arrive at school by 7:15, of course there is school," I said glancing at him. "I am to be at work by four, I work until nine, get home a little after ten, do my chores and wait by my post to anywhere between eleven and twelve. Do homework until one which I have set as my limit, I sleep for four hours, and then I get up and start again. You're not going to use all of this against me are you?" I asked a bit worried.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he told me. We walked the rest of the way to school in silence. As we crossed the parking lot, I sighed and put my stoic mask into place. "Small steps at a time," I mumbled. I could feel the stares and hear the whispers as we walked into the school together. He walked with me to my locker and then to my class.

Everyone was staring at me as I took my seat. "What," I asked them.

"You're going out with Edward Cullen," Eric asked me.

"No," I said, "he just walked me to school."

"He walked you to school," Jessica said, "He didn't drive you in his Volvo."

"Isn't that what I said? I'm sure that I didn't stutter" I told her.

"So you're his new girlfriend." said Jessica.

"No," I told them again, and with that I started reading my book for class.

As I was leaving class I was startled by someone asking me, "So are you going to answer my questions yet." I turned and saw that it was Edward that had spoke to me.

"You should learn not to startle me Edward, you may not like the results," I mocked glared at him.

"I like this side of you, it's more playful." he said to me with a smirk.

"Well you better enjoy it while you can; I could easily slip back into my normal stoic self. Besides you are the first person that I have shown this side of me to." With that I was able to slip into my Latin class before he could ask me something.

"Morning Carrie," Emmett said.

"Good morning Emmett." I said in return. "So are you going to question me like

Edward?" I asked.

"Nah, it's not really my thing. It's more like Alice's thing, not mine. Edward is probably doing it because he is starting to like you." he said with a grin.

I stopped what I was doing and stared at him. "You must be mistaken." I told him slipping back into my protective shell. Seeing this Emmett was quite for the rest of the class. After class Emmett walked me to my chemistry class. Again I was confused as why he was doing this, but I just let it go for I didn't feel like arguing or doing anything about it.

Rosalie came up to me before class and said to me, "I'm not going to pity you. You're not the only one to have suffered."

I gave a Rosalie a cold stare in the eye. "I'm not asking for pity from you or anyone else. I do not need or want your pity for I know that I am not the only to have been hurt or is hurting."

We stared at each other for moment. "So we have come to an understanding." she told me.

"We have." I agreed. The rest of the class went pretty much the same as usual, except that Rosalie seemed a bit friendlier than usual. As we came out of the class Edward was there waiting for us. Rosalie and Edward nodded to each other and Rosalie went on her way.

On our way to biology I could hear the people talking about us and watching us. "You do realize that they are talking about us right."

"Yeah," he said. "They seem to think that we are going out." He sent me a crooked smile.

"We have only known each other for what, two weeks. We don't even know each other, so how can we possibly be going out?" I asked.

"Well they could get that from my last relationship with Bella. We only knew each other for about a month or so before we started going out. We broke up because I caught her cheating on me with her new boyfriend." he told me.

"I'm sorry. I think that if you are seeing someone you should be faithful to that person, and if you want to see someone else you should at least break up with the person that you are seeing and talk it out with them." I said.

When we walked into class Bella seemed surprised that Edward was with me. She stared at me as I took my seat. When I flashed her a smile, her eyes widened and she turned toward Edward. Edward smiled to her and she slowly turned to the front of the class. I looked toward Edward and we shrugged at the same time. He appeared amused by this.

"Alright class, settle down. Today I am going to be handing out your next project and then assign partners for it. The project is about cells. You are to write a paper about cells, the parts of cells, both animal and plant. You need to describe each part of the cells and describe the differences between plant and animal. You also need a 3d representation of the cells. The entire project won't be due until before Thanksgiving break." With that said he handed out the assignment papers which explained what we needed to do. My partner ended up being Edward. When that was announced he sent me a grin like he was pleased with the pairing.

Author POV

"So Edward, I didn't see your car in the parking lot, is there something wrong with it," Bella asked.

"Nothing was wrong with it, Bella, I walked to school today." Edward said.

"Why did you walk to school?" she asked puzzled never once in all time knowing Edward did he once walk to school.

"I wanted to get to know Carrie better so I walked with her to school. I pass her every morning on the way to school so I decided to walk with her today." he said like it was the most normal thing in the world to say.

"You walked Carrie to school." Bella said skeptically and Edward nodded. After hearing that Bella sent Carrie a calculating look. She didn't notice it for she was working on something. Edward noticed it but didn't say anything for he thought that she was just confused about why he was doing what he did. In a way he was right.

Bella's POV

'_Why would he do that, he didn't walk me to school, he drove me. What I so special about her? All of the Cullen's so far seem taken with her; they didn't warm up to me that fast. Does she even know what they are, what they could do to her? She even looks worse than I do. She looks sickly pale and has dark circles under her eyes. Is she another vampire? No they would have said something, besides she doesn't look like a model or anything._'

Edward's POV

I find this situation slightly humorous. I watch Bella as she tries to figure out the reason for my actions. I turned back to the work that the teacher said we had to complete before we could get started on our projects.

I stared to think about Carrie. Rosalie is right, it is like the Bella situation again, but it is different. I don't know her true scent, but like before she is a puzzle that I want to figure out. I have that a protective feeling toward her, like I did with Bella, but it is strange. I can tell that I don't have to worry about hurting her like Bella.

It is as if Carrie is like Jasper, she has this calming influence, yet at certain times she can make me feel fear. Fear felt as if I was in the presence of something dangerous, but it won't necessarily hurt me. It also felt like I was feeling her fear, but what does she have to fear.

The thoughts I heard earlier from the others were interesting also. They thought that Carrie and I are going out. As of now, I'm not sure if our, tentative friendship, will go any farther, I am not sure if she would be ready for that kind of thing.

For one we just met, as she had said. Two she is just coming out of her shell and anything right now could make her retreat farther into it. Three, as I and the others have noticed, she is skittish and uncomfortable with contact. I and the others are going to work with that, we need to show her that not all contact is bad.

She's not that bad looking; she would look better if she has been properly cared for. I have already promised myself that I would do anything in my power to help her and to make her life better, and for that to happen I need to find out what her life is like now. If her answers aren't satisfactory I would have to watch her, like I did with Bella.

The bell has rung and so I wait for Carrie to gather her things so we can go to lunch. She doesn't carry a book bag around like the others; she carries all the books that she needs in her arms. I ask her why she carries her books like she does.

"I don't want to carry around that dirty bag. As you can imagine like everything else I own, it's not in the best of shape. And with me living outdoors it gets pretty dirty and slightly muddy. I even run around in my pjs so my clothes don't get too dirty."

"Pjs," I ask.

"Yeah," she replied, "an old tank top and a pair of old shorts. Mostly I go bare foot so the shoes will last longer, and that way my feet don't hurt from wearing them because they don't fit."

"Then why don't you get some shoes that fit?" I asked.

"I get my shoes the same way I get my food." Carrie told me.

"You get them out of the trash," I asked incredulously.

"Yeah, that is where I get my 'new' clothes too. Whenever we move Thom and Liz throw out some clothes and stuff and I take what I can use or do something with. I use some as clothing, others I take apart carefully for the threads to use when I go to tailor the others so they are closer to my size. Anything in the garbage is fair game and I get to keep whatever I can fit into my two bags." she explained to me.

By this time we have reached the cafeteria. I set my things next to her and I go get some lunch. Hopefully I can get her to eat something today. The others are just getting some fruit, that way she can take it with her. I grab some pizza, a ham sandwich, and a salad for I'm not sure what she eats and I'm sure she's not a vegetarian since she mentioned hunting earlier. For drinks I grab some milk, juice and water.

The sitting arrangements were like this; Carrie sat so that her back was to the corner, I sat to her right and Alice to her left. On my other side was Emmett with Rose on the other side of him across from Carrie. On the other side of Alice was Jasper. Carrie already had her books open working on her homework. When I sit down I took her books away from her.

"Hey I'm trying to finish my homework so give it back." she demanded.

"Not today Carrie, You are going to be talking with us." When I said this Emmett grabbed her Latin homework and started working on it and coping down what she had, even though he didn't need it. Rose took her science work.

"You can't do my work, its cheating." she said.

"We are just freeing up some time for you, that way you can get done and we can get to know you." Alice said her tone chipper.

Carrie's POV

As I heard this I put my protective front back on. "I don't need your help. I have managed fine so far. If you are helping me because you pity me, as I have told Rosalie, go someplace else for I neither need nor want your pity. As for help, I've been taking care of myself since I was three and I think that I have done a decent job."

"We don't mean it like that Carrie. We are just trying to free up your time so you can do something else, be a normal teenage girl. We can get to know you and you get to know us. Also maybe this way your nights will get freed up a bit more too. How much sleep have you had in the past three nights?" Edward asked.

I looked at the table and sighed while rubbing the bridge of my nose. "About 12 hours." I said. "And as I have asked before, what do I get out of this? 'I may be country but I'm not dumb.'" (Same Old Song - Blake Shelton)

When I said this Alice and Edward scooted their chairs closer to mine and the both of them put their arms around me. Edward put his tray of food in front of me, and everyone else put what they had in front of me.

"First you are going to have to trust us. We are not going to hurt you. We are here for you. Let us in and see the true you." Edward said. I look him in the face; all I see is true sincerity in his eyes. I look at the others; Alice had her usual smile on her face, Jasper had a small smile on his face, so did Emmett and Rose. With a sigh I relaxed into both Alice's and Edward's embrace. I grabbed the sandwich and said, "So, what do you want to know?" Alice grinned wider and gave me a hug and held my hand. Edward kept his arm around my shoulders.

Edward's POV

I was glad when Carrie gave in. I kept my arm around her to let her know that I wasn't going anywhere. I was also glad that she was eating something. We asked her about her parents first. She told us about Thomas and Liz and some things that they have done to her. She told us of how Thomas is always drinking, and Liz is always eating. I tightened my arm around her as she told us her life. My life has been so much easier, both before and after I had become a vampire. As lunch ended Carrie put the fruit and vegetables into a bag that she pulled out of her pocket. And I watched as Alice led her out of the cafeteria.

Carrie's POV

It felt so good to finally get all of this off of my chest, to finally tell someone all the things that I have been keeping to myself. I feel as if a large burden has been lifted from off of my shoulders. I feel as though when I smile I am finally smiling my first true smile ever in my life.

Alice grabs my hand and walks with me to my locker so I can get my math books and drop off my old books and food then she walks me math. That class was the same except that I wasn't afraid to ask for help with the trig identities from her.

Alice also walks me to gym. I'm still self conscious about my body and scars so I hurried and changed. I stood with the Cullen's during gym. We didn't really do anything in gym we just talked. After school it was the usual routine I went to work then home, the only difference was that I got an extra hour and a half of sleep.

WELL THIS IS IT FOR THIS CHAPTER. I WAS THINKING OF COMBINING THIS CHAPTER AND THE NEXT ONE BUT I'LL WAIT. THIS WAY I CAN DRAG IT OUR LONGER ^_^

OKAY THE POLL IS STILL GOING ON AND THE RESULTS THUS FAR ARE:

I'M IN HELL - 0

IT BEGINS - 3

DARKEST DAYS - 1

THE POLLS ARE STILL OPEN SO CAST YOUR VOTES FOR YOUR FAVORITE.

DON'T WORRY THE STORY GETS BETTER I JUST HAVE TO GET THERE. I'M SO HAPPY I STARTED WRITING CHAPTER 30 AND I'LL IDEAS FOR MORE STORIES. THERE IS GOING TO BE A FUTURE POLL FOR THIS STORY AND FOR MY IDEAS FOR OTHERS SO STAY TUNED.

VALLEYGOAT ^_^


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

A BIG THANKS TO THOSE OF YOU THAT REVIEWED:

RATGIRL407 (I hope you had fun or having fun on vacation!)

RENEE HEX

VAMPRESS HOTTIE

LADY DIA (NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN, IT'S BEEN A WHILE)

FARAMIRIEL

CHIKA1345

THE POLL RESULTS THUS FAR WILL BE POSTED AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER.

I was really thinking about having this chapter with the last one.

Ch 8 Really Getting to Know You

Carrie POV

This morning was the same as yesterday morning, Edward was waiting for me at the end of the drive way. "You know if we are going to keep on doing this you should either bring your car so we don't have to walk through the snow or you are going to have to bring me hot chocolate."

"I'll remember that." he told me with a smile.

Today I was eating a banana and crackers. I offered some crackers to Edward which he refused. "Don't you ever eat? I'm starting to think that I eat more than you do." I said.

"I have eaten already." He told me in that quite voice of his.

We continued walking in silence. I was lost in thought when this crazy idea suddenly popped into my head. I decided to share it with Edward. "Would you mind if I have a silly moment right now?" I asked

"Go ahead this might be amusing." He told me.

"Ok I'm just warning you. Sometimes I can go pretty far out there. Ok here it goes. You and your family could be vampires. My reasoning, you are all really good looking so that would draw people in, your voices are very pleasing to the ears also, and your skin is cold to the touch, as if there is no blood flow. But I don't believe you guys are normal vampires, probably vegetarian vampires. That would be cool, a vegetarian vampire." I put the vegetarian part in because from what I've heard the Cullen family is vegetarians.

"Don't think that I am crazy, I believe vampires exist or did at one time. If there are still vampires around they would have to adapt in order to survive, drinking the blood of animals is one way, especially since human blood is so dangerous now a days. I believe that they were around once because there is always a grain of truth to every myth. Also there is a myth of vampires in several cultures across the globe. What do you think about that?"

I turned to look beside me but Edward wasn't there. I looked back to see that Edward was back a ways. He had a shocked look on his face. "Edward…Edward… Eddie!" I called. He looked up at me still slightly dazed. "Come on we have to go to school." He still didn't move. I walked back to him. "See I told you that it was pretty crazy, you're so shocked that you stopped moving. Come on we need to get to school." I grabbed his wrist but he just moved so that he was holding my hand and tugged him down the road. He eventually started walking beside me again. He didn't let go of my hand as he did so. The rest of the walk to school was quite. When we got to school I told him sorry, let go of his hand and went to my first class. Something happened and I'm not sure what.

Edward's POV

I was just sitting around in the living room, waiting until it was time for me to go to school. I decided that I was going to walk Carrie to school like I did yesterday, so I told the others what I was going to do. I put on my jacket, grabbed my bag and ran to Carrie's home. When I arrived I stood next to a tree that was at the end of the drive way. I could hear Carrie's soft footsteps as she came down the drive. "You know if we are going to keep on doing this you should either bring your car so we don't have to walk through the snow or you are going to have to bring me hot chocolate." she said to me as she came up to walk beside me.

"I'll remember that." I said I told her with a smile.

We were walking along in silence and she offered some crackers to me which I declined. "Don't you ever eat? I'm starting to think that I at more than you do." she questioned. I'm glad she doesn't know how right she is.

"I have eaten already." I informed her and in a way I have. I hunted earlier this morning so I wouldn't be as tempted to tear her parents apart for what they have done to her. We were walking in silence and Carrie's appeared to be deep in thought. I tried to listen in to her thoughts but I still got nothing.

"Would you mind if I have a silly moment right now?" she asked.

"Go ahead this might be amusing." I told her. I was curious as to what she was going to do if she referred to it as a 'silly moment'.

"Ok I'm just warning you. Sometimes I can go pretty far out there. Ok here it goes. You and your family could be vampires. My reasoning, you are all really good looking so that would draw people in, your voices are very pleasing to the ears also, and your skin is cold to the touch, as if there is no blood flow. But I don't believe you guys are normal vampires, probably vegetarian vampires. That would be cool a vegetarian vampire."

I was in shock at what she was telling me. I froze the moment the word vampire slipped through her lips. '_How does she know? How did she figure it out_? I didn't even realize that I had stopped walking. Carrie didn't notice either for she was staring at the sky with her hand to her chin.

"Don't think that I am crazy, I believe vampires exist or did at one time. If there are still vampires around they would have to adapt in order to survive, drinking the blood of animals is one way, especially since human blood is so dangerous now a days. I believe that they were around once because there is always a grain of truth to every myth. Also there is a myth of vampires in several cultures across the globe. What do you think about that?"

Again I was shocked at what she said. _She believes in vampires? That might make things easier if we ever tell her the truth._ I was in such deep thought that I barely registered Carrie calling me. "See I told you that it was pretty crazy, you're so shocked that you stopped moving. Come on we need to get to school." I felt her grab my wrist and led me down the road. It was silent the rest of the way and I turned over what she said in my mind. I didn't realize that we were at school until I heard her mumble a sorry and let go of my hand. It was then that I realized that some time during our walk that we were holding hands.

I walked to where the others were standing next to Rosalie's car. "What's wrong Edward," Rosalie asked.

"It's something that Carrie said to me on the way here." I said.

"What did she say," Emmett asked.

"She had what she called a silly moment." The others stared at me in confusion. "Well she had this crazy idea about why she never sees any of us eat."

"What was her idea," questioned Jasper.

"That we're vampires, and not just any vampires, vegetarian vampires." I told them. They had the same look of shock on their face as I probably had. "She also said how she believes that vampires still exist somewhere and that they did exist at some point for them to appear in so many cultures."

"You're kidding," said Rosalie. I shook my head no. We all took this moment to soak this information in. We were silent and unmoving as we contemplated what I told them Carrie said. The bell rang and we moved to start the day. As I reflected on the walk to school, I chuckled.

"What's so funny Edward," Alice asked.

"She called me Eddie." I told her. With that we departed to our classrooms.

Carrie's POV

I felt bad about what happened this morning. Maybe the way I was acting was too much, or maybe I shouldn't have called him Eddie. I knew I shouldn't have done that. It's too personal, almost as if I was staking a claim. He wouldn't want me like that, no one will.

"I didn't see Edward's car again today, did he walk you to school this morning?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah," I replied. She walked away to her group of friends but I could still hear what they were saying. "He must like new girls. First it was Bella and now it's her. That has to be the only explanation. I mean come on, Bella was somewhat attractive, but look at her. She even wears the same filthy rags everyday to school." They continued saying that he could do so much better. I just did my best to ignore them for the rest of the class.

As I walked into Latin class Emmett called to me, "Hey there short stuff, ready for another day of translations."

"Hi Emmett," I responded quietly.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "If it's about Edward, don't worry, he was just kind of shocked at what you said. He wasn't expecting something like that from you."

"I have always been told that I was very observant of things. I was unsure of what to say so I tried to be funny. I guess it didn't work though," I said.

He was quite for a moment then he asked, "So is it true?"

"What?" I asked. "That I believe in vampires? Yes I do."

"No not that." he said. "Did you call Edward 'Eddie'?"

"Yeah, I kept calling his name to get his attention. He didn't respond so I tried to call him that to if he would do come out of whatever was wrong with him. That didn't work either," I told him.

"This is perfect, you called him Eddie. I have some blackmail now." Emmett and I spent the rest of the class time doing our assignment then working on our translation. It wasn't due for a while but we wanted to get it done.

He walked me to my next class where Rose asked me pretty much the same thing. She also chuckled at the Eddie part. "I think you are the first person to give him any sort of nickname. We always call him Edward; we never use any variation of his name." She actually surprised me when she leaned over and whispered in my ear. A grin came across my face and I gave a nod to her plan.

As Rosalie and I left chemistry we saw Edward leaning against the lockers across from the door. Rosalie and I decided to put our plan into action. When we approached him together we said, "Hi Eddie."

"Rosie, Shortie," he said nodding to the both of us. So the plan didn't have any of the results we were expecting. We were hoping for a little embarrassment.

"I'm not short y'all are freakishly tall." I told them both. They laughed at this and we headed to class. Edward put his arm around me.

"You know that they are going to be talking about this right?" I asked.

"Let them think what they want. Besides, you didn't flinch as much this time. I am getting you accustomed to touch." he said.

"Is that it?" I questioned him.

"More or less." he said while sending me a crooked smile. I blew him a raspberry, which caused him to laugh. By this time we have arrived at our Biology class. I looked up and noticed that Bella was glaring at me. I told Edward that I don't think that she likes me very much. He told me that I was just imagining it.

The teacher told us to sit with our partners and write out a vocabulary list pertaining to the project so Edward came back to sit with me and I mean right next to me. We were practically touching. I thought I felt someone watching me so I look around the class room. I see Bella staring at me so I send her a tentative smile and went back to my work.I noticed then how nice Edward's hand writing is. It is so neat, elegant, and so perfect. I never met anyone who wrote everything in calligraphy. I looked at my writing which was big sloppy cursive. I've always hated my writing and compared to his it just looks even more inadequate.

"What's wrong Carrie," Edward asked. He must have noticed my drop in mood.

"Even your handwriting is perfect and beautiful. Just look at mine, it's terrible while yours is suitable for framing," I said with a small pout. We looked at each other's writing; he seemed to study mine closely.

"Well if that is all that is bothering you let's just fix that," he said. Before I could even ask what he meant by that he scooted his seat even closer to mine where he was sort of sitting half behind me. I felt him put his left arm around my waist and grab hold of my right hand which was holding a pencil. My face felt a little warmer than usual. "Now just relax your grip on the pencil, you are gripping it way too tight. You shouldn't force the pencil, just gently guide it. Relax your arm also, your way too tense," he said softly next to my ear. I sure hope that he couldn't see my face because I could feel it burning as if it was on fire.

Bella's POV

I hear a familiar heartwarming laugh so I look up to see Edward coming into the class. I was shocked to see that he had his arm around the new girl, Carrie, and she was smiling also. What did she do to make Edward laugh, I hardly heard him laugh when we were together. Edward takes his seat next to me, "Hi Edward."

"Oh, hey Bella." he said.

"What was so funny?" I asked.

"Nothing," he told me. _Were they sharing a private joke?_ I turned my attention to the teacher so I could hear our assignment. When the teacher told us to sit with our partners Edward practically jumped out of his seat to sit next to Carrie. I slowly went to the other side of the classroom to sit with my partner. I looked back at Edward; he was sitting so close to Carrie she could have sat in his lap. I watch as she looks around the class room, when her eyes come to me, I can't believe that she smiled at me. She smiled!

I looked away. It doesn't matter; she could never actually be with him. She doesn't even know that Edward is a vampire. I am the only one that could accept him; I am the only one that he can truly be with. I may be with Jake but I hardly get to see him since he has been busy lately.

I look back to them; they seem to be comparing hand writing. Edward scoots even closer to Carrie as she picks up a pencil. He wraps one arm around her waist and grabs the hand holding the pencil into his own and he starts writing. His head is over her shoulder looking at the paper they are writing upon. He never did that with me! Just what is she to him?

Carrie's POV

Edward walked me to lunch as usual. I sat down to try to get some homework done before he takes it away from me, no such luck. He sat down next to me, pushed my books away from me and told me to eat. He even held a slice of pizza up to my mouth. I grabbed it and told him I can feed myself. He just laughed at that.

We just spent the time getting to know each other. We asked each other the usual questions like favorite colors, books, movies, music. I couldn't really tell them much of anything since I haven't been able to read or anything. I told them more about me, they told me more about them. I learned from them about where they are originally from and I told them that I believed I was born in Ohio and I lived there mostly. When they asked what I was doing here I responded that I wasn't sure. Thom and Liz were probably hiding for a while or something.

"Carrie, why don't you come to our house this weekend?" Alice asked.

"I don't know Alice. I'm usually given a list of chores that I am supposed to do. Thom and Liz leave for the weekend most of the time, but I'm never really sure when they come back, and I'm supposed to be there in case they want me to do something."

"What are you supposed to do this weekend?" asked Emmett.

"Well, that I know of, I'm supposed to do their laundry, plant the bulbs they bought. I was also hoping to get ahead on my school work so I won't be so overwhelmed later." I told him.

"They want you to get all that done this weekend?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, they won't have me clean the house until Thanksgiving though, which is good. It is hard to clean a house that I'm not allowed to step foot in. Only when the house gets really messy is when I'm allowed in it for to them it is not fit for human habitation."

"What do they view you as, if not a human?" Rosalie asked.

"Garbage, trash, beneath the dirt on the bottom of their shoes, any adjectives like these," I said placing the half eaten slice of pizza on the plate and crossing my arms across my chest. Edward scooted close to me and put his arm around me. I jumped at the contact, not expecting it and I was going back into my protective shell.

He grabbed the pizza and held it up to my mouth again. I looked between it and him sighed and went to reach for it only for him to pull it away. When he brought it up again, I reached for it and he pulled it away again.

"Do you want me to eat it or not," I asked him in aggravation.

"Yes," He replied.

"So why do you keep pulling it away?" I asked. He only smiled at me. I looked to the others for help. They were watching us in amusement. It finally dawned on me what he wanted. I could not prevent the blush that spread across my face. Edward want or was trying to feed me.

"Awe look, she's blushing. She's even cuter when she blushes." Jasper said.

"Really Jasper I would have expected that from Emmett, not you," Alice said. I went to say something but Edward put the pizza in my mouth just as I opened it. I glared at him, while the others laughed. I took the pizza out of my mouth, chewed and swallowed the piece he had caused me to take.

"I am able to feed myself and I will do so for as long as I am able." I told him.

"Does that mean I'm free to do so if you cannot," he questioned with a small smile on his face. I blushed even more and mumbled a whatever, he just laughed. I finished lunch and allowed Alice to drag me to math then gym. In gym I was told that a more appropriately sized uniform will be in by Monday. Emmett picked me up after that and started whining that I wouldn't be so adorable then. Everyone laughed at that statement and I was starting to think that I was going to have a blush permanently tattooed on my face.

We all went to study hall together then hung out until I had to go to work. They even stayed at Maria's while I worked. I sat with them during my breaks; Edward even ordered something for me to eat during my hour break. I walked home with Alice and Edward. I couldn't keep my excitement in when I saw that the porch light was off. That means I could go straight to my den which I did. That night I went to bed at eleven, I slept well that night. I felt as though things were finally looking up for me. For once in my life I was glad that we moved.

OKAY THE POLL IS STILL GOING ON AND THE RESULTS THUS FAR ARE:

I'M IN HELL - 0

IT BEGINS - 5

DARKEST DAYS - 3

OTHER - 0

THE POLLS ARE STILL OPEN SO CAST YOUR VOTES FOR YOUR FAVORITE.

OH WE ARE GETTING CLOSER TO MY FAVORITE CHAPTER. NEXT UP CARRIE MEETS THE REST OF THE FAMILY!

VALLEYGOAT ^_^


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

OKAY I KNOW I SAID THAT CARRIE WOULD BE MEETING THE REST OF THE FAMILY IN THIS CHAPTER BUT IT IS NEXT CHAPTER. SRY. AGAIN THANKS TO YOU THAT HAVE REVIEWED.

RATGIRL407, RENEE HEX, FARAMIRIEL, ANIHITACHIINLOVER, CHIKA1345.

POLL RESULTS ARE AT THE END AND THE SAME AS LAST CHAPTER. REMEMBER ONE VOTE PER CHAPTER.

Ch 9 the Weekend

Carrie POV

The next morning there was a surprise waiting for me. There was a fine layer of snow on the ground. It made getting ready a bit more difficult because everything was slick. Somehow I did manage to get ready. As the norm now Edward was waiting at the end of the driveway. This time he brought his silver Volvo with him. He was leaning against the door but pushed away when he saw me coming.

"You look cold," he said.

"Nothing that I'm not used to," I told him. "My body will eventually become so used to it that I won't notice it. I'm weird like that; it is almost as if I don't even feel the heat or the cold."

"Then I guess you don't want this then," he said while holding out a cup, while walking until he was right in front of me. I could smell the hot coca.

"Is that what I think it," I asked as I slowly reached for it. He pulled it away with a maybe. "Edward I'm beginning to think you enjoy picking on me."

"It is certainly entertaining." he said his tone teasing as he walked back to his car.

"Well, are you going to give it to me or not?" I asked. He looked into my eyes as he took his former position against the car. We stared at each other for a moment. I then slowly stalked up to him and tried to give him my best cute, puppy dog eyed look. I even added a little trembling lower lip to the mix.

"Pretty please…Eddie." I asked.

"Fine take it then get in," he relented.

"Thank you," I gushed as I did as he told me. I grabbed the cup, threw my bag on the floor and got in. As I realized what I have done I let out a small laugh.

"What is it that you find so amusing, 'Edward asked me, his head tilted slightly to the side.

"Well that first day that I saw you speed past I said to myself, 'that is one car you will never see me in,'" I told him with a small smile on my face. He laughed at that too.

When we arrived at the school, the others were waiting by the school and not their cars.

"Hmm, what are we going to do with all this extra time on our hands?" I questioned. As I looked around an idea came to me. "Can you hold this for a second," I asked Edward handing him my coca.

After he grabbed it I reached down and scooped a handful of snow and made it into a snowball as I snuck closer to the group. I then pulled my arm back and let it fly. I watched as the snowball sailed through the sky, and then struck Emmett in the back of the head. "Bulls eye," I whispered as I took my hot cocoa back from Edward and continued walking toward them.

After the ball hit Emmett, the group froze. Emmett slowly turned around and demanded,

"Who threw that?" If only looks could kill.

"He/She did it," Edward and I said pointing at each other. I was trying yet failing miserably at keeping a straight face.

"Oh really," Emmett said with a devilish smirk on his face. He reached down and grabbed some snow; all the while he has a huge smirk on his face.

As I saw this I tried to hide behind Edward, but he kept moving away. "You only brought this upon yourself you know." he said.

"Alice! Rose! Girls versus boys," I called, feeling playful, while setting down my cup and grabbing more snow in my hands.

"Way ahead of you Carrie," Alice called throwing a snowball at Jasper. And so it continued on like that until it was Alice vs. Jasper, Emmett vs. Rose, and me vs. Edward. Somehow the boys were able to get us girls stuck in the middle of a circle.

"Do you girls give up?" Edward asked.

We looked at each other and at the same time and shouted, "Never!" and threw everything we could at them. We weren't even bothering to make the balls; we were throwing what snow we could get a hold of, which wasn't much to begin with. There was only about a quarter of an inch on the ground to begin with. The game ended with us being tackled or subdued by our nemeses.

"Do you surrender?" Edward asked. He managed to get a hold of my wrists and was now holding my arms behind me, consequently his arms were now around me and we were pressed against each other.

I looked at him and studied his face. His hair was wet from the snow that he was either directly or indirectly hit with. "I concede this battle to you Mr. Cullen, but you have yet to win the war." I told him. We pulled away from each other then. "If we are going to do that again I'm going to have to find some gloves to keep my hands dry and warm."

"That would be a good idea," Edward said and we went to join the others. Edward left and came back a short time later with my discarded cup of hot chocolate. I thanked him and we talked together until it was time to go to class, where the school received a special announcement from the principal.

"Attention students, I am pleased to inform you that this Halloween, which is in two weeks, we are going to be having a school wide costume contest. Today at lunch a teacher is going to be going around to each table so you can retrieve a slip of paper. On this paper will be a costume idea for you to do."

"The contest part is this; during lunch on Halloween all of you will vote for these categories; best costume for male and female, best couple costumes, best costume of a certain type. For example, witch, vampire and so on, best costume that idea that we did not come up with. And last but not least there will be a vote for the king and queen of Halloween. We will have an assembly at the end of the day to announce the winners."

Oh this is going to be so much fun. I love Halloween; I love dressing up in costumes. This is going to be great. Maybe Alice, Rose and I could work together on our costumes, try to knock the socks off of the boys. I couldn't wait until lunch.

Lunch has finally arrived. As usual, my homework has been taken away from me and Edward put a tray of food in front of me and the others sat around me. I was bouncing my leg impatiently, waiting to get my slip of paper.

"What's got you all excited Carrie?" Edward asked.

"The costume contest, I love this sort of thing. Plus Halloween is my favorite holiday. I'm eager to see what my next challenge will be." I said.

"What do you mean by challenge," Rosalie asked.

"Well when I was in elementary school the teachers had us come up with our own costumes for our schools 'Halloween Parade' that was held. We were encouraged to use our imagination for our costumes. I used to use any extra fabric I had to make my costume, and I had so much fun doing that. I really enjoy dressing up." I said with a huge smile on my face and bright eyes.

"You really get into this don't you?" Emmett asked. I enthusiastically nodded my the teacher with the slips came to our table I quickly snatched a slip from the container. The others nonchalantly took theirs; they didn't even look at them.

"Are you guys not doing this?" I asked.

"Not really," Edward said.

"But it is going to be so much fun." I paused. "Will you guys please do it?"

"What do we get out of it," Edward turned my previous response back at me. I ate a sandwich as I thought of what I could offer them to get them to participate.

"Twenty questions," I responded. They looked at me in confusion. "If you guys do this I will answer twenty questions each for all of you. However I will answer ten before Halloween and ten after Halloween to ensure that you actually go through with it. That is my offer, 'deal or no deal.'"(I do not own)

They looked at me and then each other. They appeared to have a debate without words before Edward turned back to me. "If you eat more at lunch and come to our house for breakfast at least once a week until Halloween it's a deal," Edward proposed.

I thought it over for a minute. "Deal" and I shook his hand. "Now move so Rose can sit there. He did as I said and Rosalie came to sit with me. I pulled them both closer and pulled a sketch book out of my pile of books. "Ok ladies; let's see what we have to work with." Alice had angel, Rosalie witch and I had vampire. "Yours two won't do at all."

"Well what do you have in mind?" Rosalie asked.

"This," I told them. For Alice I wrote 'pixie' and Rosalie I wrote 'forest nymph'.

"Aren't those the same," Rose asked.

"Maybe, maybe not," I replied. With that I looked Alice over and started sketching.I looked up at the boys "No peeking or cheating or anything or else," I warned. Then I turned back to the sketch. After I got so far I started to add some color. When I had it at a certain point I showed it to Alice. She looked over it, studied it and then a huge grin spread across her face. She looked at me and handed it to Rose.

She looked it over grinned and handed it back to me. "Now do mine," she said. I took my book back, looked her over and started to sketch again. Both Alice and Rose were looking over my shoulder watching me as I worked. After I finished I showed Rose. She gasped as she saw it. While she and Alice looked it over I looked up and saw the boys staring at us in curiosity. I just sent a smile their way.

"The hard part is going to be to find the right materials, and it is going to take some time to put together. I'm going to have to stay up for quite a few nights to get it all together if I do get the right materials." I told them.

"Ok we are doing yours," Rosalie said. She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me over to Edward. She pushed me into him so I fell into his lap. "Hold on to her," she told Edward. He wrapped his arms around my waist.

I tried to get up but I couldn't. "But I was going to do mine. Edward let go, I can sit in my seat."

"It would help if we knew what you looked like under all of those baggy clothes." Alice said.

I replied with, "I'm fat and I have curves in all of the wrong places."

"No just sit there and we'll take care of it," Alice said.

I gave up my fight with a sigh. I grabbed the slice of pizza, leaned back into Edward's chest to get comfortable and propped my feet up in Emmett's lap. He looked at me and I just stuck my tongue out at him and continued to eat my pizza. He chuckled at me. I watched as Alice and Rose were frantically sketching on the same sheet of paper, have little debates, tear out a sheet of paper, crumple it up and started again. '_This is going to be trouble, I can feel it.'_

The rest of the day was the same as usual. In gym the teacher told us that we were going to be starting ball room dancing until after Halloween then we would move on to line dancing, another positive thing for my day, because I love dancing. The woman teacher was teaching us our moves, and the guy teacher was teaching the guys theirs. When we got them completely correct we will be paired with each other to perform the dances.

"One reason why we are doing this because also during the assembly there will be a small party afterwards. The king and queen of Halloween will have to dance the first dance," the woman teacher announced to the class before we got started.

"Well I don't have to worry about that." I said.

"Why is that?" asked Alice asked.

"Because I never win anything, I don't even get nominated for anything. I mean, come on, I'm not all that attractive and if you haven't noticed, I'm a bit reclusive also." I told her.

"You never know, this time might be different," she said while sharing a look with Rose.

"Don't try to rig this, just let it play out the way that it is supposed to play out." I told them.

"Don't worry Carrie; we won't do anything to change the outcome." Rose said.

The rest of the day went on as usual. We went to study hall, and they stayed at Maria's while I worked. During my breaks I sat with them, and Edward ordered me food again.

"You know Edward I think that you are trying to spoil me." I said.

"I'm just looking after you and keeping my word." he replied.

The snow from this morning had melted so I walked home. Alice and Rose convinced Edward that it was okay for me to walk home. They walked home with me and we discussed their costumes, what materials were needed, the colors, the details. They refused to talk about my costume, but I figured let them have their fun. I kind of felt like a Barbie doll that they were planning to dress up.

When I get home the light was off. It looks like I get plenty of rest tonight. In the back of my mind I knew that this wouldn't last, my luck was bound to run out at sometime. The questions were when and how badly was I going to get hurt.

It was about eight in the morning when I got up Saturday morning. After I ate some breakfast and put a light sweater I had on and covered my head with a bandana after I pulled my hair back into a low ponytail, I went to the house to get my list of chores. Next to the chore list was a note:

'_Went to Seattle, Be back by Wednesday morning. Do your work and stay out of the house.'_

My chores consisted of: do laundry, patch roof, paint shutters, hang up porch swing, plant bulbs around the house and put some in pots.

I might as well get started, but I'm going to break some rules. I went into the house and brought out a radio, the only station I could get was a small local station. I cranked up the volume and got to work. I took off my sweater because it decent, a bit nippy but still really overcast.

I decided to do the laundry first, since there was only two loads and so that I don't it dirty later. While the washer was going I decided to paint the shutters. The paint I provided was a dark green and looked really old, I wouldn't be surprised if it was lead based paint. I somehow managed to climb up on the top part of the porch so I could paint the shutters up there. I couldn't take the shutters off to paint them like I was supposed to so I had to be careful when I painted them.

After I had the shutters painted and had the second load of laundry in the dryer, I moved onto the porch swing. (It took a while to paint the shutters because many were difficult to get to and I had to paint several coats to get it looking decent.) Thom forgot to mention that there was some assembly required and it also had to be painted. I decided to paint the pieces first before I put it together. While I was painting I was getting into the music. It was apparently teen hour so they were playing pop music. I recognized *NSYNC's It's Gonna Be Me and started to sing and dance along, painting as I did so.

"_Every little thing I do never seems enough for you. You don't wanna lose it again But I'm not like them Baby, when you finally, Get to love somebody Guess what, It's gonna be me"_

"I didn't know you felt that way. You should have said something." I heard come from behind me. I turned around so fast that I tripped myself and would have fallen down if the person who said that didn't catch me. I looked up and saw Edward looking down at me with laughter in his eyes.

"What have I told you about sneaking up on me? You are going to give me a heart attack one of these days." I scolded him. I pulled away and looked behind him. There was his Volvo, Alice and Rose was getting out of a red BMW, and a large jeep pulled in behind them which Emmett and Jasper got out of.

"What are you wearing Carrie? And where are your shoes," Rose asked looking over my attire.

"My pajamas," I responded. "I don't have anything else to wear and I haven't cleaned my school clothes yet and I washed this last night. As for my shoes, they don't fit so why wear them when I don't have to, and I need them to last for as long as possible so I don't wear them down."

"Aren't you cold?" Emmett asked.

"A bit but I have come to ignore it." I replied. They also took the time I noticed to look at all of my scars that were now visible. I had to try not to cover them up. If they really wanted to know me they ought to see how disfigured I am.

"I take it that Thom and Liz are not here since you are breaking two, now three rules." Edward asked.

"Well technically four, because you guys know me and are my friends. Yes, they are gone. They left a note stating that they have gone to Seattle and won't be back until Wednesday morning or there about." I informed him.

"So what is on the agenda today," Alice asked.

"I don't know about you, but I have chores to do, plus I have homework to get done," I told them.

"What do you have to do?" Edward asked.

"Let's see," I thought. "I have to finish the laundry, finish painting these pieces of swing and put it together. I don't know why they got it; they never come out side except to leave in the car. Anyways I have to plant all of the flower bulbs around the house and in pots, the rest I put some place else, and I have to patch the roof and put up some new shingles."

"We'll give you a hand." With that they spread out. Alice waited on the laundry, Rose started on the gardening with Jasper, Edward and Emmett started where I left off on the swing. While they did that I gathered the things I needed for the roof. I put everything in a really large bucket and tied a rope to the handle and tied the other end around my I was ready I grabbed a hold of the new rain gutter drain that came down alongside the house and started to climb up. When I was about half way up I hear Edward call to me, "What are you doing?"

"Going up to the roof," I replied not stopping my climb. A few seconds after maneuvering the part that juts out away from the house and swinging myself over I got up on the roof. I looked down and saw Edward underneath where I was glaring up at me. "What?" I asked pulling the bucket up behind me.

"Isn't there a ladder you could have used?" he asked.

"Nope, there are no ladders; besides, I like climbing." I told him.

"Emmett, get up there with her just in case," Edward said. I rolled my eyes. I was shocked when I turned around and Emmett was behind me going through the supplies that I just pulled up.

"H- H- ho- how did you get up here? I didn't even see you move." I asked.

"Don't worry about it," he told me.

"Hey Carrie, where do the clothes go," Alice asked.

'_She got all of them folded already. Yes they were almost dry, but it was such a large load that it would take a while to fold_.' "They go in the cubby next to the door." I told her.

"Hey Carrie, where are the pots?" Rosalie asked.

'_They can't be done planting the bulbs for winter yet are they?_' I look down and see a bunch of upturned dirt. "They are next to the laundry shed." I must have zoned out or something, maybe I should eat something.

"I'm done Carrie," Emmett said. I turned around and indeed all of the problem areas have been fixed, and some new shingles have been put on.

"Did I fall asleep or something? How can you all be possibly finished if we haven't been even working for ten minutes?" I questioned I felt like I was missing something.

"No, we are just fast workers." he replied. I just stared at him.

"I definitely should eat something. Maybe my blood sugar is low or something." I said more to myself. At that moment rain started to pour down from the sky.

"Trust us Carrie." Emmett said. I just nodded. "Cross your arms across your chest and keep them there." As soon as I did as he said he picked me up bridle style and tossed me from the roof. I couldn't help the scream that escaped my throat as I moved about to try and grab onto something or move so I wouldn't land on my back. I then found myself in Edward's arms.

"I caught you," he said and he set me down on my feet. "Is there any place where we can talk?" I nodded and walked toward my den. I assumed that everyone else was following me.

When we arrived I turned to them I said, "If there is anything you don't want to get too dirty, you can hang them in my shelter." No one made a move. "Ok then, here is the only place large enough for all of us. I also have a fire going inside." With that said I got down on my hands and knees and crawled into my den. The entrance was on a slightly downward angle. When I got in I went over and sat down on my 'bed' and waited for the others to come in. When they all got in I stoked the fire up to life again and put another log on.

"Well welcome to my home," I said to them.

"The entrance and atrium is a tight squeeze," Emmett said.

"I'll make sure that it is Emmett sized before your next visit. What are you going to do when I finally put my rock up close to the entrance?" I asked.

"Just move it," he replied with a grin.

"If you guys don't mind, I'm going to have some lunch. That reminds me with them gone I could probably go hunt or fish this week." I said the last part to myself.

The fire was right in the middle of the den. I went behind Rosalie to grab an apple, some bread and crackers. It was basically the same seating arrangement except Emmett was across from me with his back to the entrance.

We sat in silence as I ate my apple. When I finished with my apple I threw the core into the fire and started eating my bread and crackers. "So what is it that you guys wanted to talk to me about," I asked.

"Well, since you have been so open with us, we are going to be open with you." Edward said. I turned to give him my full attention. "There is something about my family and I that make us different than others. We have a deep, dark and terrible secret that only one other person knows; we want you to be the second." I waited for him to collect his thoughts. "We are stronger and faster than normal humans, a few of us even have extra abilities then that. We aren't human." I bit my tongue so I wouldn't make a smart mouth remark. I nodded to let him know that it was ok for him to continue.

"My family and I are a coven." he turned so he was looking me in the eye.

"A coven of what exactly," I asked quietly.

"Vampires." he said.

"Is this a joke," I asked. "Are you trying to take advantage of me or something? I told you that I believe in stuff like that and you're throwing it back in my face. Why would you do something like that?" I tried to keep calm.

"I think we ought to show her what we mean," Alice said. And with that they started filing out of my den; Edward motion for me to go out before him, when he got out he grabbed my hand and led me to a nearby clearing. He took of his coat and put it around my shoulders and I put my arms through it. It was quite cool to the touch instead of warm, but it protected me from the rain that already had almost soaked me to the bone.

He walked over to a small tree and ripped it from the ground. Emmett came in front of me and jumped. He was at least thirty feet in the air before he turned and landed on a tree branch. Jasper went up to the same tree and quickly scaled it without much use of the branches and stood opposite of Emmett. Rose and Alice walked in front of me and then they were gone. They kept on disappearing and reappearing in different spots.

After their little performance they all came before me lined up as if to be judged. Their expressions were unreadable. "So are you guys are actually real vampires and not people who think that they are vampires" They nodded. I walked up to Edward, grabbed his wrist and felt for a pulse; nothing. I looked at him and asked, "May I?" He nodded. I stepped up closer and put my ear to his chest to listen a feel for a heart beat; again nothing.

I went to each of them and did the same thing. "What about your diet, you don't drink human blood, do you?" I asked.

"No," said Edward. "We call ourselves vegetarians for we drink the blood of animals. So in a way the theory that you had earlier in the week was correct," he told me with a small, uncertain smile.

Slowly a smile started to spread across my face. "I was right? I was right. HA HA I was RIGHT!" I jumped and spun in the air. "So your all really vampires, so there is some truth to the myths. This… Is…So… COOL!" I jumped and wrapped my arms around Edward's neck while laughing. I let go and hugged each one of them and started to ask them questions at a mile a minute.

WELL THAT IS THE END OF THIS CHAPTER. NEXT CHAPTER CARRIE MEETS THE REST OF THE FAMILY. I MEAN IT THIS TIME. CARRIE JUST FOUND OUT THE TRUTH ABOUT THE CULLENS. AS FOR THE POLL EVERYTHING IS THE SAME.

IM IN HELL- 0

DARKEST DAYS - 3

IT BEGINS - 5

FIRST ONE TO GET OT TEM WINS OR I COULD JUST CUT IT OFF HERE.

ANYWAYS R&R PLEASE

VALLEYGOAT ^ _^


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

ALRIGHT THIS IS A CHAPTER THAT A FEW OF YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. CARRIE MEETS THE REST OF THE FAMILY, AND CARRIE IS IN FOR A SURPRISE FROM THE CULLENS.

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU THT HAVE REVIEWED. CHICKE, RATGIRL407, RENEE HEX, FARAMIRIEL, AND LADY DIA.

POLL IS STILL UP. STILL HAVEN'T DECIDED IF I'M GOING TO END IT AT TEN OR KEEP IT UP UNTILL THE ACTUALL CHAPTER.

WITH OUT FURTHER ADU

Ch 10 Meeting the Rest of the family

Carrie POV

"So how many are in your coven?" I asked. I was arm in arm with Alice.

"There are two more besides us. They act as the matriarch and patriarch, Dr. Carlisle Cullen and Esme Cullen." She said.

"How about we take you to meet them?" Edward suggested.

"Would it be ok to do that?" I asked. We have made it back to my den at this time. "I don't really have anything else to wear at the moment, plus I would have to clean up. I mean look at me. My legs are covered in mud up to my knees. Plus I have mud other places such as my hair." I held it up to show them what I meant.

"Don't worry," said Rosalie, "you can get cleaned up at our place. We'll find something for you to wear also."

"Sure I guess. I won't make much of a first impression. I'm soaked to the bone and it is still raining cats and dogs." I said. Truth be told I was nervous, I had never met anyone's 'parents' before and I could already tell that theirs would be amazing.

"Don't worry; we'll take care of you when we get home." Jasper said reassuringly there was something about him that made me feel at ease and calm it was a strange thing.

We headed toward the cars and I got in with Edward. He backed out of the drive way and took off down the road. We drove down the road for a while going at a speed where everything was a green blur. He eventually turned onto a side road that I would have missed if I was with anyone else. The drive way was long and winding, surrounded by trees and heading deeper into the forest and higher up the mountain.

When the house was finally in sight I was breathless. The house was so beautiful I was speechless. I didn't get much time to look at the house as Edward pulled around and backed into the garage. Rosalie and Emmett followed soon after. We all got out and headed to the door that led into the house.

"Are you guys sure about this. I'm still bare foot and I don't want to get mud throughout your home." I asked afraid of actually offending someone by tracking mud all over their home.

"Hold on." Edward said. He leaves then comes back with a rag and some house slippers. He kneels down and wipes most of the grime from my legs and feet and puts the slippers on my feet. "There, happy?"

"A bit," I responded. Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie walked in first. Edward grabbed my left hand and led me into the house. Alice grabbed my right hand and walked in behind me.

"Esme, we're home." Edward called out.

"I'm in the kitchen." I heard a woman call out. We headed in the direction that I heard the voice come from. Edward squeezed my hand in reassurance. Alice had let go of my hand to greet who must have been Esme, the mother. I being a shy person tried to hide behind Edward. I had my head against the back of his arm which I was peering around. I could feel him chuckle at my actions.

"And who is this?" Esme asked her voice as kind as her smile.

"This is Carrie, the girl that we have told you about." Edward supplied.

"Oh you're the one I've wanted to meet. Come here and let me get a look at you." she told me. I hesitantly walked toward her. "Don't worry I don't bite." I let out a small laugh at that. "Oh look at you, you're soaking wet. Let's get this wet coat off of you." She started to take my or should I say Edward's coat off of me. She gasped as she saw what was under the jacket. She tossed the jacket away from her and took my arm into her hands, looking at and studying my scars. Her hands seemed to shake as she looked at one arm and then the other. I was surprised when she then picked me up and set me on the counter. She looked at my legs and any other exposed skin.

"These are not as bad as they seem. When I was younger I even named some of them. There is this one on my right arm that wraps around a few times that looks like a snake that I called Charlie." I pointed on an area on my upper arm. "There is this on my left upper thigh that looks like a dog that I called Fluffy." I pulled the leg of my shorts back to show the area that I was talking about. " Then there is this one," I said pulling my tank collar down and to the side exposing the area roughly where my heart was, "that looks like a bat that I…" I stopped there because I realized what I was about to say. I could feel the blush forming.

"What do you call the bat Carrie," Emmett asked.

"Yeah Carrie, what do you call it?" Edward asked. I covered my face with my hands and answered.

"We couldn't understand you. Could you repeat that," Emmett said.

I took my hands away from my face and sighed before I answered. "I call it Ed the vampire bat." Emmett burst into laughter. "Shut up Emm!" I yelled. Everyone chuckled at that.

"You haven't lived a very good life have you dear?" she asked more to herself then to me.

"No need to worry now, our doors will always be open to you now. You have a place in our family. Alice, go draw Carrie a nice hot bubble bath. Rosalie, go find some clothes that she can wear afterwards."

"You don't have to do that," I told her. She just wrapped her arm around me and led me to what I guessed was the bathroom.

"Now take your time and make sure you get good and clean. I'll be back in an hour so take your time." Esme then closed the door and left and I enjoyed one of the best, if not the best, hour of my life. For the first time ever I really felt clean, for the first time my hair has been washed with shampoo and conditioner. I was so clean I was shining. After I finished I changed into the clothes that were provided. The clothes consisted of a pair of loose sweat pants and an over sized sweater. I was trying to dry my hair with a towel when I heard a knock at the door. I opened it to see Esme standing there. "Come dear, I'll take care of your hair." She led me back to the living room. Everyone else was lounging around on furniture or on the floor. Esme sat down on an easy chair and motioned for me to sit in front of her on the floor. I sat down and pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them.

"I brought your school bag here, it's in your room," Edward said.

"I have a room," I asked in disbelief. He nodded.

"Of course you have a room. You're seen as family now and you'll be staying here when your family is not in town. And you will be coming here every now and then for breakfast and supper, it gives me an excuse to cook and use the kitchen. It also gives me a look of normalcy at the town market." Esme said.

I sat there letting Esme comb my hair. "So Carrie do you want to start answering our questions?" Alice asked.

"Sure why not. I'll have a fifty to answer now, fifty later, so we might as well start." I said.

"Have you ever been kissed? What's your favorite color? When's your birthday? Have you ever been on a date? What is your favorite animal? What pet animal do you like? What are your favorite things to do? What is your favorite dessert? Who is your favorite author? What is your favorite subject?" Alice asked all at once like a hyper little kid. She was even bouncing slightly in her seat and had the ever present smile in her face.

I stared at her before I answered. "Let's see. No. I like purple, red, green, and blue. My birthday is March ninth. I have never been on a date. I guess I like wolves, dolphins, eagles and tigers. I like dogs for pets. I enjoy reading, drawing, dancing and listening to music. My favorite dessert is vanilla ice cream. I have several favorite authors, but I read anything Sci-Fi and fantasy. My favorite subject is science because I like to know the why and how of things." I replied. "And that was all of your questions Alice."

"Could you stand up dear," Esme asked me. I did and she finished combing out my hair which came down past my butt, almost mid thigh. '_Wow my hair is really long_.' On the arm rest was the largest hair ball that I have ever seen, it was almost the size of a baseball. "This is all the weak and dead hair that hasn't been taken out. Is it ok if I trim your hair?"

"Sure I guess." She pulled out a pair of scissors out and pulled me to stand in front of her. I felt her run her finger through my hair and felt her gather it at around my hips. I heard the scissors cut through my hair.

"There you go dear, you're all done." Esme said. I thanked her and went to sit on the couch next to Alice and Edward took a seat next to me. I folded my legs under me and asked who was next. We spent the next couple of hours talking. I told them how I loved music and how I always wanted to learn to play the clarinet, piano, fiddle, viola, and cello. I told them I was given a clarinet once but Thom sold it. At this point I learned that Edward was the musical one of the family. Also I discovered a new habit, petting my hair. I couldn't believe how soft it was.

"I'm home," a new male voice called out.

"That would be Carlisle," Edward said. He grabbed my hand and led me to the front door. Everyone greeted Carlisle in their own way. When he spotted me he held his hand out and said. "You must be Carrie that I have heard so much about." I shook his hand and responded with a yes sir.

"No need to sir me, you can call me Carlisle. So have you been enjoying yourself here Carrie?" he asked.

"To tell you the truth I feel a bit lost. I'm not used to not doing anything that I'm not sure what to do with myself." I said.

"The only work that is required for you to do here is school work." he told me. "Other than that, relax and enjoy your time here."

"Why don't you guys show Carrie the house? I'll have some dinner ready in around an hour." Esme suggested.

I was shown a room that had a piano in it, the dining room, the kitchen, Carlisle's study, and the library. Everyone showed me there rooms. Alice and Rosalie showed me things about their room that they wanted me to see, mainly their closets and vanities. Edward showed me his music collection and a hundred years worth of journals. None of them had a bed because he told me that they didn't sleep.

The last room that I was shown on the tour had my name on the door in gold lettering, and Edward motioned for me to go on in. When I opened the door I was speechless at the sight. The wall directly across from the door was solid glass and looked out toward a tree filled misty valley and a setting sun. The walls were painted a pale lavender color. On the left was a bed set up parallel with the glass wall. It was a canopy bed with baby blue curtains, the same as the window curtains. The bed was covered in comforters in a soft pastel green color and the pillows were a pale rose. All of the fabric had gold trim and stitch designs.

Across from my bed was a small walk in closet that also had built in dressers. Next to that was a small vanity. On the other side of the closet, next to the window was a desk with my bag sitting next to it. Along the wall that the door was were book shelves. To right of the door were some books, and to the left were some music cases. On either side of the bed were small tables. The one closest to the door had a small lamp. On the one closest to the window was an alarm clock. On the ceiling right in the middle was a golden chandelier. (The door was in the middle of the wall.)

"Do you like it?" I heard Edward ask.

I turned around with tears in my eyes. Everyone was standing in my door way, even Esme and Carlisle. "I love it," I said. "I finally have my own room." I finally have my own room in a house. I finally have an actual bed. I finally have a place to call my own. I ran forward and wrapped my arms around Edward and Alice. "Thank you", kiss Edward on the cheek. "Thank you," kiss Alice on the cheek. Hug Rose, thank you, kiss on the cheek. I did the same with Emmett, Jasper, Carlisle, and Esme.

"Come on dear, dinner is ready." Esme said. We all headed to the dining room. Carlisle sat at the head of the table with his back to the window wall. On his left was Alice and on his right was Jasper. I sat next to Alice with Rosalie on my left. Edward sat next to Jasper, across from me, with Emmett on his other side. Esme sat on the other end of the table across from Carlisle. Esme came out and set a plate of spaghetti and meatballs in front of me with a tossed salad. She left and came back with garlic bread and a glass of milk. "Eat up dear."

"Thank you. Now I know that you are definitely trying to spoil me." I said. As I ate we talked. I told Esme and Carlisle more about myself. When Esme brought up my scars Carlisle asked to see them. I got up and walked over to him. I pushed my sleeves back to show him my arms, and then pulled up my pant legs so he could examine my legs. I told him that the only place that my scars were not that bad was on my face and neck. He even examined my back, like everything else was scars upon scars. I got back to my seat and continued eating. In the end I ate a little more than half of my spaghetti and salad, and I had about four slices of garlic bread with two glasses of milk. "Thank you for the meal Esme."

"No problem Carrie. As I said earlier, I love to cook." she said. "Why don't you go up and finish your homework and then turn in for the night.

I nodded and headed up to my room. I smile at that, my room, my own room.

The next morning

I was sleeping peacefully when I felt something (a feather) brush against my nose. I just twitched my nose and turned my head away. I felt it again and I swatted it away. It came back again and again until it felt like there was more than one. I buried my head under my pillow to get away from it and snuggled back into my blankets.

I felt a poke in my side and I shied away from it. A couple of seconds later more pokes into my sides and I laughed. The fingers continued their attack until I was thrashing around trying to get rid of the fingers and laughing because I was so ticklish.

"Stop it! It tickles, stop it!" I managed to gasp out between my laughter.

The tickling persisted. "Do you surrender?" Edward asked.

"Yes, yes I surrender. Just stop it so I can breathe." I told him.

He stopped and stepped away from the bed. "Come on Esme has breakfast ready, it is going to be a busy day." he said.

After I freshened up a little bit I headed into the dining room. "Morning Esme," I said.

"Morning dear," she said to me placing a kiss upon my brow. The only other ones in the dining room were Rosalie and Alice. "So what do you girls have planned for today?"

"We're going to take Carrie shopping." Alice said. "And while we are at it we are going to look for the materials she needs to make our costumes.

"Why would you need costumes?" Esme questioned. Alice explained to her the contest and the costume ideas that they were given and what I changed them to. Rosalie ran up to my room and brought back my sketch book to show Esme my costume ideas.

"Alice and Rose have taken my costume planning away from me." I said.

"Well I think I'll help the girls with yours. What idea were you given?" she asked.

"Vampire, I would ask you guys about what I should wear, but I'm not even sure what they have planned for me" I said with a small smile. I usually try humor when I'm nervous if you haven't figured that out yet. Esme looked at what I had sketched for Alice and Rose, and then she looked even further back in my sketch book.

"What are these?" she asked looking at my sketches.

"Most of those are the views seen from where ever I was staying at. This one," I said flipping to a page "is the view of the city from the roof of the apartment building Thom and Liz was living in. I stayed in an old utility shed that was on the roof. And this one," flipping to another one, "is when I lived under a bridge that ran under a bypass that was over a creek. Thom and Liz lived down the road in a duplex."

"Well when you finish eating, we'll find you some clothes and then you can go out with the girls," Esme said. After I finished eating Rosalie took me up into her room. She dug around in her closet and came back with a denim outfit with a black shirt and white shoes and undergarments. She gave me the clothes and left so I could change.

When I was done she came back in and set me down in front of her vanity. Rosalie did my hair into a half up and half down style with the top half braided. She then did my make up with pale pink lip gloss and a small amount of dark purple eye shadow and a tiny bit of eye liner.

When we came down everyone was waiting for us. Edward handed me a rain coat saying that there was an eighty percent chance of rain today. "You guys are coming with us?" I asked.

"Yes, because of you we have to go shopping for costume ideas also." Emmett teased. I just stuck my tongue out at him.

"Don't stick that out unless you plan to use it," Edward said as he came to stand beside me.

I looked at him in shock. "You wouldn't dare."

"Would I?" he responded, his brow lifting in challenge.

"Rosalie! I'm riding with you and Alice. The boys can take their own car," I said.

Everyone had a laugh at my reaction. We went out into the garage and got into our respective vehicles. The girls and I got into Rosalie's red BMW and the boys got into Edward's silver Volvo. We drove to a nearby town to do our shopping.

"We're going to look for some clothes for Carrie. You guys can do whatever you want to do; we'll meet at the food court for lunch." Alice said. Both Rosalie and Alice grabbed an arm and dragged me off into the mall.

For almost five hours I was trying on clothes that they were handing me. They made me try on everything from pants to skirts to dresses, t-shirts, tank tops, halter tops, peasant tops, dress tops, tube tops and jackets, tennis shoes, heels. You name it I tried it on. Alice and Rose bought everything that they approved of. So when we finally went to meet up with the boys we each had ten bags. I don't know where I'm going to put it all.

"Have fun?" Edward asked.

"You should have warned me about them. They easily spent a thousand dollars on me. They even bought accessories and jewelry." I said incredulous. I never knew people could be so blasé about spending so much money!

"Don't worry about it." he said. He grabbed some bags from my hand and led me to a table. "We'll take all your bags out to the cars as you get some lunch." He said as he and Emmett and Jasper grabbed all of the bags and left.

"Here you go Carrie, go get some lunch." Alice said handing me some cash. I came back with a whopper, fries and a root beer. While we were waiting for the boys to come back some other guys came up to us and started hitting on us and asking us out. Alice and Rosalie I could understand, but one guy even asked me; I was blushing for I was unused to the situation. Alice got them to go away, and I was able to finish my meal in piece.

"We're back," Emmett said, "miss us?"

"You miss Carrie turn as red as a tomato. After you left some guys came up and started talking to us, flirting really; one of them even tried to get Carrie talking and was hitting on her. I didn't know someone could blush that much." Alice said.

"Is that so," Edward said. I just crossed my arms and looked away with a small huff.

"Let's go, maybe Carrie can help you guys with your costumes. Oh and Edward, we are also doing yours along with Carrie's so you have no say in the matter."

"No thanks, Emmett and I have our costumes planned already." Jasper said.

"Well when Carrie gets done getting things for our costumes someone is going have to take her away so that she doesn't see what we are doing for her." Rose said. "Why don't you just come along Edward, that way it will be easier to get rid of her?"

"I'm starting to think that you don't like me Rosalie." I said pouting crossing my arms over my chest in mock irritation.

We went to Hot Topic, costume stores, places that sold fabric, and department stores to see if they had anything that could be of use. A few hours later I said that I think that I had most of everything I need. After I said that Alice and Rose took off without another word and left me with Edward.

"Well I guess it's just you and me," Edward said with that half grin he is fond of. He grabbed my hand and we just walked around the mall. We looked through a music store and we both came out with a few CDs. When I came out I ran into someone. I turned around to apologize and noticed that I ran into Bella and she was with a dark haired boy.

"Oh I am so sorry Bella; I should have been watching where I was going." I said kind of embarrassed with my lack of coordination.

"It's no problem. So what are you doing here?" Bella asked her tone curious.

"Well I'm staying with the Cullen's this weekend and they brought me here to go shopping and to get stuff for the costume contest." I told her. Edward came up behind me and wrapped his arm around my waist, or my shoulders considering our heights, so that he was standing on my left across from the boy with Bella.

"You're doing the costume contest," Bella asked Edward. He nodded and didn't remove his gaze from the other boy. They appeared to be glaring at one another. "Oh I'm sorry. Carrie, this is Jacob Black, Jake this is Carrie." Bella introduced. I put my hand out to shake which he just stared at, not taking it and then turned back to glaring at Edward.

"So what are you guys dressing up as?" Bella asked I could tell her voice was filled forced politeness. I knew she did not like me. I have a feeling that she doesn't like me because she still likes Edward. She, like everyone else, probably thinks we are some kind of couple. The only thing I can't figure out is why he has yet to inform her that it is not true.

"We're not really sure. Alice and Rosalie have taken over our costumes and they won't tell us what we are up to." I replied and she nodded.

"So you are staying with the Cullen's?" Bella asked, _'Why does it sound like she was trying to ask something else?'_

"Yeah," I said. "They even gave me a room which is right next to Edward's so I'm always hearing music, which is nice." I tried to keep my tone friendly and light, but it was hard I was feeling a bit uncomfortable with this conversation; especially with the two glaring males' practically spitting testosterone in the air.

We just stood there for a few minutes before Bella said, "Well we better get going." After she said that Jacob practically pulled her away from us.

"Was it me, or did that seem kind of awkward?" I asked. Edward didn't say anything just started pulling me along in the opposite direction of Bella. I don't know if I can ever get use to that weird ex tension they got going on between them.

Later we all met out by the cars. The ride back was much like before, except that both trunks and the back seats were stuffed with bags. When we got home Esme and Carlisle greeted us and asked us about our day. I told them of how I thought Alice and Rosalie went overboard in the shopping. Esme told us to put the bags in the laundry room so she could wash them and she told me to get washed up, dinner was almost ready.

During dinner we talked some more. They told me about their lives before and after becoming a vampire and why they were changed. Carlisle told me about his father and the Volturi. After dinner I dragged Alice and Rose into my room so I could take their measurements so I could make a more detailed drawing and get an idea for what patterns I need to make. I draped some fabric over their forms that I would use as lining so I could trace some patterns and I pinned so I could get a better idea of their shape. Esme did the same with me for she was going to be helping the girls in making my costume. I took a shower and went to bed.

It was a normal routine. Edward or someone would wake me up, Esme would make me breakfast, Edward would drive me to school and we would all talk until we had to go to class. School remained the same; they would take turns walking me to class, Edward would make sure that I ate something during lunch, but now he let me do some work also.

After school Edward would drive me to his home, I would drop my stuff off, change into my uniform and eat the snack that Esme would fix. Edward or someone would drive me to work and then pick me up after wards. I would eat supper, take a shower, do my homework then work on the costumes.

On Tuesday it was the same routine except that night I stayed in my den that night and cleaned up around the house to make it look like I had been there all along. Alice put some blankets in on my 'bed' so would have something more to sleep with. She also left some clean clothes for me out in my outdoor shelter. That night was one of the worst nights of sleep that I had ever had. The old routine was back with some changes.

WELL THAT IS CHAPTER TEN. WHAT DID YOU THINK? POLL. THINGS ARE TIED UP, BUT WHO WILL BE THE WINNER. (ANYBODY HAVE ANY IDEAS ABOUT WHEN I SHOULD END THIS?)

IT BEGINS - 5 DARKEST DAYS - 5


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING: CHICKE, FARAMIRIEL, RHI17, RATGIRL407, CHIKA1345

Chapter 11 Halloween

A couple of weeks later Carrie POV

"Carrie. Carrie. Hey Carrie wake up." I heard someone whisper in my ear and trying to shake me awake. I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. "About time you got up. Come on its Halloween and we have a bunch of work to do." Alice then turned around and crawled out and I followed soon after. After I got out Alice grabbed me and slung me on her back then took off through the woods toward the Cullen house. It was about five in the morning.

We entered the house and Esme was there with breakfast made for me. I ate then hopped in the shower and brushed my teeth. I had Alice put her costume on first. It was almost a gothic pixie look, but I turned away from black and tried to add more color; it wasn't the normal pixie look. The top was a deep purple in color, long, off the shoulder bell sleeves. It was tight across the bust then flowed out down to the hips. There was a black skirt that came down to mid thigh. Underneath she was wearing tights that had alternating bands of green and light green. On her feet were black three inch heels. Along with her costume was a pair of wings. The wings came up in inch above her shoulders down to her hips. They extended around three inches past her arms. The wings were made of several 'feather' shaped parts that were outlined in black, green in color and had purple spots. Her makeup consisted of rose pink lip gloss and eye shadow with sparkles and a very light blush. I sprayed some glitter into her hair also. Her nails were painted purple.

After I did some touch ups and asked Rosalie if she got the plants. She nodded then got into her costume. It was a strapless dress that came down to mid thigh, but within dress code. It was a light green color and covered in sheer cut outs overlapping in layers so the end result was different shades of green. The cut outs were shaped like leaves and had gold stitching for the veins. On the back she had white shear wings the same size as Alice's. She had three gold bracelets on each wrist and a simple gold chained necklace. On her feet were gold three inch strap heels. The straps crisscrossed up to almost her knees. Her nails were done in French tips. Her lips were colored with pink lip gloss. She had a light green eye shadow, light blush, and sparkles on the cheeks and around the eyes. Her hair was slightly curled. I took the top half of her hair, separated it into two parts, twisted them and pinned them back. I took the plants, which were small string vines with small and large white flowers, and braided a few together and thread them through Rose's hair and made a crown with them around her hair. I pinned a few in her hair so that they hung down. The plants had been sprayed with a substance to make sure that they would not die and stay together.

It was my turn next. Alice and Rose came out with a red and black gown. It was a dark red down the front and black on the sides and back. It was strapless and reached all the way to the floor and the skirt was slightly puffy like a ball gown. There were small silver buttons going along where the black and red met. Across the bodice the red satin is covered by black lace. There were detached black arm sleeves; they went from my wrists to my mid upper arm. There was red sheer fabric tacked to three places on the sleeves, the top, bottom and middle. The fabric went from one sleeve to another; it was about eight feet in length. It attached to the dress in two places; at the waist and between the shoulders, mid way on the fabric. Alice pulled my hair back into a sloppy bun with a long fountain affect. For jewelry I wore a red jeweled black choker. For make up the put some powder on my exposed skin so that I would have the same complexion as them. Rose put dark red almost black lip stick on my lips and eye shadow that was a more of a red, but still dark. She also put some black eye liner and mascara on. My nails were painted a blood red. Alice pinned a black rose behind my right ear. I wore black hose and black two/three inch heels.

"Hang on I want to add one more thing," I said. I grabbed my henna kit that I bought at the mall and drew a bite mark on the left side of my neck where it meets my shoulder.

"After about an hour or so I can peel this away and it will leave behind a tattoo." Rosalie and Alice complained that it didn't smell too good, which it doesn't, and they sprayed some perfume on my neck, wrists and dress.

"Wow I absolutely love it," I praised. "I feel like a princess. This is one reason why I love Halloween."

"You didn't do too badly of a job yourself Carrie. These costumes are so cute, and Rose just looks so sexy." Alice said.

"Now are you sure about wearing so little Rosalie. I could whip something more up to go with it." I said.

"No I'm fine. Come on let's go Esme wants to take pictures and we need to get to school." she said. We went down and Esme took like fifty photos she said she will get more after school when we were all together. We went out and got into Rosalie's car. I got into the back passenger seat behind Alice and we went on our way to school. I pulled the 'glue' of the henna off as we pulled in and light marks were left behind, which will darken as time passes.

We pulled in next to Edward's car; as we pulled in the guys got out. Jasper was dressed up as an elf from The Lord of the Rings. He was dressed all in green. He had green tights, shoes and tunic. He even had the fellowship cape with leaf brooch and a bow and a quiver full of white feather arrows strapped to his back. He even had pointed ears. Emmett was dressed as Viktor Krum from Harry Potter. He was wearing the brown Drumstag uniform that they wore when the first arrived at Hogwarts. He was even wearing the fur lined coat and hat and carrying a staff.

Edwards costume however had me feeling… warmer than usual. He was dressed as a vampire. He was wearing a white, long sleeved billowy shirt that had the top three button undone. I could see a good part of his exposed chest. A burgundy vest was over the shirt with gold buttons and the bottom two sets of buttons fastened. He was wearing black pants that were tucked into his boot. The boots were black that came up to almost his knees. The boots had a two inch dark grey cuff. He was also wearing a cape that had a gold chain that came across his front. The outside of the cape was black and the inside was burgundy.

Emmett helped Rose out the car, Jasper helped Alice and Edward helped me.

"My lady," Edward bowed to me, "will you allow me to be your escort today?"

"Of course my kind sir," I replied while I curtsied. He offered his arm to me with a smile.

I returned his smile and took the offered arm. Rose and Emmett walked toward the school first, followed shortly by Alice and Jasper, and soon after by Edward and I.

It got quiet as we approached. I could feel everyone's eyes on us. I could hear hushed whispers as we walked by. Then I heard the cat calls start. I smirked a bit at that. I knew that they were directed mostly to Rosalie due to what she was wearing. I felt some pride about that. Edward leaned down and said in my ear, "You do realize that some of those calls are directed to you, don't you."

I blushed but looked at him with a slightly shocked and surprised expression, "You must be mistaken, and I couldn't possibly look attractive." I said.

"You are the one mistaken, Carrie, for you forget that I know what they are thinking. You are also mistaken because I think that you look absolutely stunning." He said looking into my eyes. I blushed so hard that I thought that my face was on fire. Edward chuckled and kissed the back of my hand. Edward sure has a way with words.

Since the classes were shortened due to the assembly and party we didn't do anything but talk during class, and we didn't need any books either. In English Jessica, Mike and Eric asked me where the Cullen's and I got our costumes from. I told them that I made Alice's and Rosalie's, and that they made mine and Edward's. When they didn't believe that I made the costumes I showed them my sketches. In Latin Emmett was pretending that he was Viktor and quoting the Harry Potter movies. In chemistry the teacher made us model our costumes and again people were surprised that I made Rosalie's costume; they didn't seemed surprised that Alice and Rose made mine. Edward was there to escort me to class.

In biology Edward and I just stood next to each other leaning against my table. Bella came in and sat on her table so that she was facing us. "Wow, Edward, I've never seen you show so much skin at school before," Bella said. Her eyes kept darting toward Edward's bare chest. "So what are you supposed to be exactly?"

"Isn't it obvious, I am a vampire, and Carrie here is a vampiress," Edward said in an unemotional voice.

"So what are you dressed up as Bella," I asked.

"A vampire also," she replied. Bella was dressed in a red and purple clinging dress and tennis shoes. The dress had a broad strip of red down the front the rest was purple. The sleeves were tight all the way down to the wrist there was a foot of fabric hanging down. The inside of the sleeve was red. The dress had a high collar that came up to the back of her head; the inside of which was also red. Her exposed skin was bone white and the area around her eyes was painted a dark grey. She had a bat necklace on and bright red lip stick and think black eye liner. Her nails were painted black and she had vampire fangs in her mouth with some red paint from the corner of her mouth to her chin.

When the bell rang Edward wrapped his arm around my waist and he led me to the cafeteria where we met up with the others. We talked and joked around a bit and Emmett kept on thanking me on Rosalie's costume and Rose would hit him along side of the head each time. Alice brought a camera out of nowhere and we started taking pictures of each other in various poses. There were pictures of Edward and me embracing and acting like he was going to bite me; pictures of Jasper chasing Alice; Emmett on his knees before Rose, and various other pairings. We each put our votes in for best costumes and who should be the king and queen of Halloween.

Math class was like the others, and in gym we still danced as a final practice because the second dance after the king and queen's everyone was supposed to dance, and I mean ball room dancing. Afterwards we were dismissed to go to the larger gym/dance hall to await the results of the voting. Rose got best girls costume, Alice and Jasper got best Couple; Emmett got best guys costume from a movie. The only thing that was left to announce was who was voted the king and queen of Halloween.

"Alright students settle down, before we announce this year's king and queen please give another round of applause to our category winners. Now the couple voted the king and queen won by a landside, over two thirds of the school voted for them and was a complete surprise. This year's king and queen of Halloween are," the principal opened an envelope and pulled out a card. He stood there in silence to build up the suspense. Some students started yelling at him to hurry up.

"This year's King and Queen of Halloween are … Edward Cullen and Carrie…" the ending was awkward because I have no last name on file.

When I heard this I completely froze. I was completely shocked, I couldn't move. Edward winning I could understand, but me. I've never won anything. Alice was grinning at me and hugging me. The rest of the Cullen's were hugged me also. I sat there gaping like a fish thinking that there must be some sort of mistake. Edward just picked me up bridle style and carried me down to the middle of the floor and set me on my feet.

"Edward there must be some sort of mistake, I couldn't have possibly won." I said.

"There is no mistake Carrie looked at the card," he said and he handed me the card. There written in big, bold fancy text was:

King and Queen of Halloween 2007Edward Cullen & Carrie ------

As I realized this wasn't a dream a huge smile spread across my face. I look up at Edward and wrapped my arms around him in a tight bear hug. He hugged me back and when he pulled away he grabbed me by my waist, picked me up and swung me around. My hands were on his shoulders, as we were spinning I threw my head back and let happy laughter escape into the air.

When he sat me down we turned and faced the principal who placed a crown upon Edward's head and a tiara upon mine.

"Now for the first dance of the King and Queen." the principal said. He and the other staff stepped away and the gym got quiet.

"Don't worry Carrie, it's just you and me and no one else." Edward said as he held one hand and put the other on my waist. Over the speakers Aerosmith's I Don't Want to Miss A Thing began to play. I was lost in Edward's eyes as we started to dance. It was just me and him.

About half way through I realized that I was singing along with the music so I stopped. "Don't stop, you sound wonderful," Edward said as he pulled me even closer. So I continued with a smile on my face.

"…_I don't wanna close my eyes/ I don't wanna fall asleep/ 'Cause I'd miss you, baby/ And I don't wanna miss a thing/ 'Cause even when I dream of you/ The sweetest dream would never do/ I'd still miss you, baby/ And I don't wanna miss a thing/ I don't wanna miss one smile/ I don't wanna miss one kiss/…"_

Edward somehow managed to put his forehead against mine and he closed his eyes. I continued to sing as we danced. He brought his hand up from my waist and put it along side my face and stroked my cheek with his thumb. As the song finished he stopped moving and slowly moved his lips closer to mine until he finally captured them right as the last chord was sound.

I don't know how long we kissed for but I broke it off as the cat calls and other various cheers reached my ears. When I realized that we were in the gym with the whole school watching I buried my face in his chest to hide the blushing and he just wrapped his arms tighter around me.

"And with that let the Forks High Halloween party begin," the principal said with balloons and confetti falling down on the dance floor. When the lights went off the party lights and music came on.

This was shaping up to be the best day of my life. Not only did I get to dress up on Halloween, and look pretty good doing it, I also get my first kiss. This kind of thing never happens to me. Edward was my first kiss, and I'm still tingling from the sensation of his lips against mine. I never expected to receive a kiss, especially from someone so handsome. I feel as though something important has happened, but I'm not sure what.

Plus I'm at a school dance. I've never been to a school dance before. The entire time I was dancing with Edward and he never once let go of me. It felt nice, like I was loved, like I belonged, and I've never been happier. The only time that Edward ever let go of me is when I danced with Alice and Rose. I even danced a little bit with Emmett and Jasper, but mainly I just danced with Edward. He even passed up a chance to dance with Bella. I wouldn't have minded if he did, he seems different than when we first met. Edward doesn't seem as open with Bella as he used to when I first moved here. I wonder what happened to make him change. They are friends, right? So what is different?

Anyways, I am having a blast, and there is no homework tonight, a definite plus. We could leave at any time since technically there are no classes being held, so the group and I go back to Cullen Manor as I like to call it. I had a few hours before I had to go to work so we had our own little party. Carlisle was even there.

"My Carrie, don't you just look ravishing." Carlisle said when he caught sight of me.

"I can't believe I look like this. I would never believe that I would look this good especially with…" I trailed off because I couldn't bring myself to continue with my thought. Edward wrapped his arms around me from behind, pulling me to his chest. I still cannot get over just how right it feels being here in his arms surrounded by his family. I could almost imagine me being a part of this amazing family. And again I thank whatever God it was that pointed my life down this path; I really liked the feeling of belonging somewhere. No that's not right not belonging somewhere, but belonging here with the Cullen's.

"Of course you're beautiful Carrie." Esme said. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. If they can't see it than they are blind." Edward tightened his grip around me wordlessly agreeing with her.

"Anyways, all hail the queen of Halloween!" Emmett said to brighten the moment. And at that moment Alice came up behind me and placed a paper crown on my head and placed another one in my hands.

"Queen," I said, "I think I like the sound of that. Of course, what is a queen without her ladies in waiting? Lady Rosalie, Lady Alice, what sayest thou?"

"A queen such as thou certainly deserves only the best for thy husband and king, milady." Alice said, going along with my playful mood.

"How about this gentleman," Rosalie said, pulling Emmett forward by his arm, "he certainly looks strong milady, along with striking features."

I stepped forward and circled around, looking him up and down. "He certainly is, however; he is spoken for, is he not?" I asked. My answer was Emmett wrapping his arm around Rosalie.

I turned to Jasper, "You good sir, are fair looking and appear to have a strong mind, certainly you could be king."

"Alas fair lady; I too am also spoken for. My heart belongs to your fair lady in waiting, the Lady Alice." he replied with a bow.

I turned to Esme, "Dear Lady Esme, surely there is a handsome, strong, charming, and brilliant gentleman, with whom I can share my rein with."

"I do. May I introduce to you my Lord Carlisle? He has a son who is available and I believe he would be perfect as your king," she said with a small coy smile. Edward came up to me with a charming smile on his face. He stopped a couple of feet before me, grabbed my hand, bowed, and kissed the back of my hand. All the while he never broke eye contact with me. I think I felt my knees go weak.

As he stood up straight I proceeded to look him over. I walked around him once and as I walked around him again, I softly, barely touching ran my fingers up from his left arm, across his chest and down his right arm. As I did this I was watching his eyes and they stared back into my own. As I walked behind him I ran my hand across his shoulders. When I was in front of him again I asked, "How about you, noble sir, are you spoken for?"

"Not as far as I know." Edward replied.

I turned back to the girls, "What do you think ladies?" Alice and Rosalie looked at each other, then me and grinned. I turned to Esme and the others; they all had smiles on their face. "I guess you will just have to do then." I stepped toward Edward and held the crown toward him. "I choose you Sir Edward Cullen to be my king."

When I reached up to place the crown on his head Edward picked me up by my waist so that I could more easily complete my task. After I placed the crown upon his head I placed my hands on his shoulders, but instead of putting me down he pulled me closer and wrapped his arms around me. I ended up wrapping my arms somewhat around his head. My position was that I was sort of sitting on his arms and his head was about even with my chest.

"So what was so important about re-establishing the fact that I am the King of Halloween," Edward asked.

I leaned down so that our foreheads were almost touching, "I chose you this time," I said in a whisper knowing that he as well as everyone else heard me perfectly.

"All hail the King and Queen of Halloween!" Emmett shouted.

"All hail!" everyone responded. And with that we got back to our party with Esme taking a lot of pictures. After I changed so that I could go to work I was informed that they would not be at school for the next two days for the news was calling for sunshine.

"Someday I'll see you guys sparkle," I told them teasingly. Edward took me to work and

said he'll be back later to pick me up. Work went on as the same as always. People from school congratulated me on being voted Queen of Halloween and asked me more questions about the costumes.

After work Edward picked me up and took me to the manor. There Esme had made me a small royal feast as celebration. After dinner Edward ran me home and left after giving me a kiss on the cheek and a 'farewell my queen.' It was eleven before I was dismissed. When I got back to my den there were two small packages on my bed. They were both framed photo graphs; one was of Edward and I in our costumes, the other was of all of us in our costumes and Carlisle and Esme. I went to sleep that night with a smile on my face, thinking of all the fun I had and the thought that I had my first kiss.

Edward's POV

I'm not sure why we are doing this; we usually don't participate in Halloween, but we can't seem to deny Carrie this. Just seeing her excitement over the matter, I and apparently the others also wanted her to keep the smile on her face.

Emmett was dressing as Viktor Krum from the Harry Potter movies. Jasper was dressing as a forest elf from The Lord of the Rings. I was thinking as dressing up as Cedric Diggory during the Yule Ball, but Alice and Rose said that they were planning my costume. We never found out what the girls were planning for their costumes, they were somehow blocking me.

Carrie's mind has been becoming clearer, but she too is somehow able to block me. What I have seen of her thoughts is somewhat boggling; her mind works in very complex ways.

"So what are you girls dressing up as anyway?" I asked.

"You'll find out when we get to school, just like with you, except with you Edward." Alice said. "Then you can see what Carrie designed."

"That is going to be interesting to see what she came up with." Emmett said. Jasper agreed with him. I was handed my costume and left to go put it on. '_They have me dressing up as a vampire, how ironic.'_ It was a classic black and red male vampire outfit; however, it showed an awful lot of skin.

When I went back out to the others I asked the girls, "Is this a good idea, showing this much skin."

"Don't worry about it Edward." Rose said. "Besides compared to you I'll be practically naked, and I'm sure Carrie will appreciate the view." Emmett, Jasper and I stared at Rosalie when she said that she would be close to naked. Emmett had a lecherous grin starting to spread across his face; Rosalie smacked him along side of his head when she saw that.

"Just what does Carrie have you wearing," he asked.

"You'll see." she replied in a sing song tone with a teasing smile. The girls left so the others could get into their costumes and not spoil the surprise. The boys and I left in our car to go to school and I saw Alice run off toward Carrie's place. We had a couple of hours wait, but something told me that it was going to be worth it.

As I thought when school was close to getting started I saw Rosalie's vehicle pull into next to ours. The boys and I got out; I could tell that we were already drawing attention from the other students. I could read that they were surprised that we dressed up. If we had their attention, the girl's costumes would definitely get it.

Emmett went to the driver's side and help Rosalie out of the car, and I was shocked at what she was wearing. She was right when she said that compared to me. I had to block out Emmett's thoughts because they were going somewhere that I didn't want to be. The last thing I heard was that he had to thank Carrie for what she designed. I forgot that the costume was made by Carrie, and I'm surprised that such a shy girl such as her could come up with something as revealing and sexy as that.

Alice's costume was something closer to what I was expecting. The costume was playful like Alice is, but it was slightly different and unusual. It was kind of hard to explain. Jasper helped her out of the vehicle.

I went to the back passenger side door and opened it. I was shocked at what I saw. There was Carrie, looking absolutely stunning. As I helped her out of the vehicle I drank in her form. She was wearing something akin to a ball gown. It was black and red in color, the way that she looked, it was almost as if she stepped straight out of an ancient portrait. Even her scars seemed to add to her beauty. She had some makeup on her skin to make it closer to ours. I felt a tingling sensation travel up and down my spine and warmth I have not expected to feel spread throughout my body. If my heart was beating it would have skipped a few beats and be pounding wildly.

My eyes were drawn to some marks by her neck. They appeared to be bite marks. When I realized this I felt a thirst that I have never felt before. It was different from the usual thirst; it was a different sort of hunger that I felt. I wanted to sink my teeth right where the mark was while she was screaming my name.

I shook that off, bowed to her and said, "My lady, will you allow me to be your escort today?"

"Of course my kind sir," she replied with a curtsy. Her face was slightly flushed as she took in my costume. I offered her my arm with a smile, which she took and returned. Rose and Emmett walked toward the school first, followed shortly by Alice and Jasper, and soon after by us.

It was quite as we headed toward the school. I could hear their thoughts about how as usual we looked perfect. They were surprised by the girl on my arm. It took them a little bit for them to figure out that the girl was Carrie. Someone then started releasing cat calls. I could feel pride in Carrie's mind as they started. She was thinking about how she did do a good job on Rosalie's outfit.

I leaned down and said into her ear, "You do realize that some of the cat calls are directed to you, don't you."

She blushed and looked at me with a slightly shocked and surprised expression, "You must be mistaken, and I couldn't possibly look attractive." she said.

"You are the one mistaken, Carrie, for you forget that I know what they are thinking. You are also mistaken because I think that you look absolutely stunning." I said looking into her eyes. She blushed even more; it's so entertaining to watch her blush and to make her blush. I chuckled and kissed the back of her hand, then escorted her to her English class. I escorted her to the classes that I usually do. She seemed relieved that she didn't have to carry anything around since the teachers told us that we didn't need anything today. In all my classes, the girls were staring at me more than usual, probably because they could see my chest.

As usual I walked with Carrie to biology. We were just leaning against her table when Bella came in. She walked to her desk in front of us and put her things around. She was carrying a couple of books and some candy bags.

She glanced at me and did a double take. She slowly looked me up and down, her eyes wide. "Wow, Edward, I've never seen you show so much skin at school before," she said. Her eyes kept darting toward my bare chest. "So what are you supposed to be exactly?"

"Isn't it obvious, I am a vampire, and Carrie here is a vampiress," I said in an unemotional voice, much like how Carrie used to speak. I didn't feel talking to her, she stunk of that werewolf. It smells as if they had been sleeping together last night. Bella's eyes widened when I said this. She turned her eyes toward Carrie and the widened more as she looked at her. As she looked Carrie over her eyes narrowed slightly. Was she jealous?

"So what are you dressed up as Bella," Carrie asked.

"A vampire also," she replied. I looked over her attire. It looked like some cheap outfit that she got at a costume store. Her whole appearance was a bit of an eye sore. The colors clashed and her makeup was too heavy and covering the natural beauty that she possessed.

The rest of class passed by without much more happening. When the bell rung I wrapped my arm around Carrie and we walked to the cafeteria. As usual I made sure that she ate something. Alice brought out a camera and we started to take pictures of each other. I even posed with Carrie like I was going to bite her. It was hard to resist, she looked so tempting.

Since she has been with us I have come to realize that with her being outdoors so much her scent is much like that of a forest. There is always a hint of wild flowers in a fresh breeze and rain. The perfume that she wore which smelled similar to baby powder made it smell softer, more delicate.

In gym it was like a smaller party. Carrie and I danced together for, as the teacher said, final practice. I have come to find out that Carrie enjoys dancing as well as music. She seems more carefree when she is dancing, and she uses music to express herself. Certain music accompanies her mood. When she is at the manor she often comes to my room and borrows a bunch of Cds.

It was finally time for the assembly. The principal made a speech about how this is the first annual Halloween contest and went on to explain the contest again. He went to announce the winners.

"Alright students settle down, before we announce this year's king and queen please give another round of applause to our category winners. Now the couple voted the king and queen won by a landside, over two thirds of the school voted for them and was a complete surprise. This year's king and queen of Halloween are," the principal opened an envelope and pulled out a card. He stood there in silence to build up the suspense. Some students started yelling at him to hurry up.

"This year's King and Queen of Halloween are … Edward Cullen and Carrie…" I smiled at that, for I expected it. Carrie however looked completely shocked. The others hugged her and congratulated her, but she seemed unresponsive. I chuckled at that, reached down and picked her up bridle style then carried her down to the middle of the floor.

I showed her the card to prove that it was real, that she was my queen. I watched as a huge smile spread across her face. She then looked up at me with stars in her eyes and wrapped her arms around me in a fierce embrace. I wrapped my arms around her as well. I pulled away and grasped her waist, picked her up and spun her around. I watched mesmerized as happy laughter flowed from her mouth. I vowed that I will hear more of that wondrous sound coming from her.

I placed her on her feet again and crowns were placed upon our heads. "Now for the first dance of the King and Queen." the principal said. He and the other staff stepped away and the gym got quiet.

"Don't worry Carrie, it's just you and me and no one else." I said as I held one hand and put the other on her waist. Over the speakers Aerosmith's I Don't Want to Miss A Thing began to play. I was lost in Carrie's eyes as we started to dance.

I listened as she softly started to sing along with the song and her eyes would drift close from time to time. About half way through she seemed realized that she was singing along with the music and stopped. "Don't stop, you sound wonderful," I told her as I pulled her even closer. She continued with a smile on her face.

"…_I don't wanna close my eyes/ I don't wanna fall asleep/ 'Cause I'd miss you, baby/ And I don't wanna miss a thing/ 'Cause even when I dream of you/ The sweetest dream would never do/ I'd still miss you, baby/ And I don't wanna miss a thing/ I don't wanna miss one smile/ I don't wanna miss one kiss/…"_

With the heels she was wearing I was able to put my forehead against hers and closed my eyes. She continued to sing as we danced. I brought my hand up from Carrie's waist and put it alongside her face and stroked her cheek with my thumb. I watched as she moved and danced with her eyes closed. As the song finished I stopped moving and slowly moved my lips closer to hers and finally captured them right as the last chord was sound. I don't know why I did it, but I know that it felt right to do so.

I'm not sure how long we kissed for but she broke it off as the cat calls and other various cheers reached our ears. Carrie seemed to remember that we were in the gym with the whole school watching. She buried her face in my chest in embarrassment. I just wrapped my arms tighter around her. The thought that I heard from the others was, '_About time_.'

"And with that let the Forks High Halloween party begin," the principal said with balloons and confetti falling down on the dance for and the lights went off and the party lights and music came on.

We left the party early and went back to the manor. We were going to have our own little party there. Carlisle even took the afternoon off so that he could see our costumes. I watched as Carlisle complemented her. I was there to comfort her when her thoughts turned to her past. I then watched as Carrie played around with the girls about who should be her king.

"Dear Lady Esme, surely there is a handsome, strong, charming, and brilliant gentleman, with whom I can share my rein with."

"I do. May I introduce to you my Lord Carlisle? He has a son who is available and I believe he would be perfect as your king." I went up to Carrie and greeted her in a noble fashion, never breaking eye contact.

She looked me over then around me. She then softly, barely touching ran her fingers up my left arm, across my chest and down my right arm. A trail of fire was left in their wake. As she did this I was watching her eyes and they stared back into my own. She walked behind me and ran her hand across my shoulders. A chill went down my spine and fire across my shoulders. "How about you, noble sir, are you spoken for?"

"Not as far as I know." I replied.

She turned to the girls, "What do you think ladies?" Alice and Rosalie looked at each other, then her and grinned. Then she turned to Esme and the others; they all had smiles on their face. "I guess you will just have to do then." She stepped toward me and held the crown toward me. "I choose you Sir Edward Cullen to be my king."

She reached up to place the crown on my head I picked her up by her waist so that she could reach better. After she placed the crown upon my head I pulled her closer and wrapped my arms around her. Carrie had her arms loose around my head. My head was even with her chest and she was sitting in my arms.

"So what was so important about re-establishing the fact that I am the King of Halloween," I asked.

She leaned down so that our foreheads were almost touching, "I chose you this time," she said in a quiet whisper.

"All hail the King and Queen of Halloween!" Emmett shouted.

"All hail!" everyone responded. And with that we got back to our party with Esme taking a lot of pictures. There was sunshine predicted for the next two days so we told Carrie that we would not be at school. We were going hunting for the weekend because we haven't done that in a while.

"Someday I'll see you guys sparkle," Carrie said teasingly. I took her to work after she changed, and picked her up afterwards. When I dropped her off I told her 'Farewell my Queen.' On my way back home I came to the conclusion that I'm falling in love with Carrie. Again it's not the same as with Bella but the feeling is still there. I've been trying my hardest to get over Bella, but Carrie has been slowly filling in that void in her own special way. I just want to see her happy.

SO WHAT DO YOU THINK. DID ALICE SEE THIS COMING? HOW WILL BELLA TAKE THIS ALL. WHAT IS NEXT IN STORE FOR CARRIE? WELL JUST STAY TUNED. I STILL WANT FIVE REVIEWS AT LEAST BEFORE I UPDATE AND I AM REALLY EAGER TO UPDATE WITH THE NEXT CHAPTER.

POLL

IT BEGINS - 7

DARKEST DAYS - 6


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING: RHI17, FARAMIRIEL, RATGIRL407, SHARONH, RENEEHEX, TRIFORCEANDSHEKAHARTS, CHIKA1345

**Chapter 12 Consequences of Happiness **

Bella's POV at the mall

Jake and I were spending time with each other at the mall. For a few minutes he has been acting strange, he seemed cold more closed off. It reminded me a bit of when he was 'delivering his message' to me at prom last year and Edward came up to us. I suddenly ran into something. I turned around to see who I ran into now, only to see Carrie. I hardly recognized her due to the clothes and make up she was wearing.

"Oh I am so sorry Bella; I should have been watching where I was going." Carrie said a very light blush dusted across her nose. It was weird seeing her blush; it was something different from her normal emotionless mask.

"It's no problem. So what are you doing here?" I asked curiously. I wondered if Alice was trying to make a new shopping partner. It would make since considering her new attire.

"Well I'm staying with the Cullen's this weekend and they brought me here to go shopping and to get stuff for the costume contest." she told me. Edward came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her. I was surprised to see him here. We never went out to someplace public when we were dating. I usually went to his home or he came to mine.

"You're doing the costume contest," I asked Edward. He nodded and didn't remove his gaze from Jake. They appeared to be glaring at one another. "Oh I'm sorry. Carrie, this is Jacob Black, Jake this is Carrie." I introduced them. Carrie put her hand out to shake which he just stared at, not taking it and then turned back to glaring at Edward.

"So what are you guys dressing up as?" I asked shocked that they would be participating, being what they are. Wouldn't they find it offensive to their species? I shake such thoughts away as Carrie answered my question.

"We're not really sure. Alice and Rosalie have taken over our costumes and they won't tell us what they are up to." Carrie replied.

"So you are staying with the Cullen's?" I asked though what I really wanted to know was if she was staying with Edward.

"Yeah," Carrie said. "They even gave me a room which is right next to Edward's so I'm always hearing music, which is nice."

'_Why does she get to stay at the Cullen's? I was allowed to visit but never stay. She even gets her own room! And it's next to Edwards! Why is she really treated like a member of the family?'_ I thought to myself feeling jealousy course through me as I realized that

Carrie was taking my place within the Cullen house hold.

"Well we better get going." I said and Jacob dragged me away from there.

School Halloween

Today was Halloween and I was dressed as a vampire. I was hoping to maybe catch Edward's eye. I know that I have Jacob but I still want Edward, he should still be with me in some way, I was made for him. I'm his special brand of heroine, I should be with him, and he needs me.

Jacob was with me last night and we crossed the line. It started off as one thing then it just escalated out of control. I took a shower before I left for school so maybe Edward wouldn't smell Jake on me since before he always complained about how he had an unappealing smell. I was wearing a vampire costume that I found at a costume store at the mall.

I head to school and I see Edward's car in the parking lot, but I don't see Edward. I go over and stand with Mike and Eric and the others waiting for school to start. I look up and see Rosalie's car pull up next to Edward's Volvo. Then I notice that the boys are dressed up for the competition.

Emmett was dressed up as Viktor Krum, Jasper as an elf of middle earth, but what shocked me most was Edward's costume. From what I can tell he was dressed as a vampire. '_Why would he dress up as something that is supposed to be mocking what he was?' _They each went to a door on Rosalie's car. When Rosalie stepped out of the car, she looked absolutely gorgeous and she was showing a lot of skin. '_Isn't that dangerous for her to do? What if some sun comes out, what will she do?' _Alice stepped out of the car next and I was also surprised to see that she too dressed up. I'm not sure what she is supposed to be, but she does look good.

What came next shocked me so much that I thought that I would pass out. Edward helped Carrie out of the car, and I barely even recognized her. She looked totally different, she looked captivating. I couldn't believe that this was the same girl that I tried and failed to befriend when she moved here just a month ago.

She was wearing a dress that looked like it belonged on royalty. She looked even more like the Cullen's than before. She looked like a princess of times that have passed. I watched as Edward offered her his arm and then led her to the school. I watched as he whispered something into her ear that caused her to blush, and then as he kissed the back of her hand. I felt something inside me then that I haven't really felt before. I was wondering '_why her? What makes her so special?'_I listened throughout the day as people talk about the vampire family. I heard about how they complemented about how Rosalie and Carrie looked so good, so sexy even. That brought out that Alice's and Rosalie's costumes were designed and made by Carrie herself, and how Alice and Rosalie made Carrie and Edward's costumes.

Finally biology came and I could talk to Edward. I walked in and almost stopped in my tracks for Edward and Carrie were standing next to each other, they looked so perfect. I put my stuff down and sat on my desk facing them. I looked Edward up and down and I couldn't help but want him then and there. "Wow, Edward, I've never seen you show so much skin at school before. So what are you supposed to be exactly?"

"Isn't it obvious, I am a vampire, and Carrie here is a vampiress," Edward said in an unemotional voice. The way that he was acting reminded me of how he used to act around me before we started going out. '_Why doesn't he like me? Do I still smell like Jacob? I took a shower so I should have gotten his scent off of me. Are they dressed to match each other?'_"So what are you dressed up as Bella," Carrie asked.

"A vampire also," I replied. '_Isn't it obvious?' _I have a high collar, fangs and a blood trail on my face. She looks like she could be a lady of a manor or something. I look at her and I spot what could be a bite mark on her neck. So they changed her already? No that doesn't make sense with what I know. Does that mean that she is already a vampire? That can't be right for she's not supernaturally beautiful like the others.

When the bell rang Edward wrapped his arm around Carrie and they headed off. I watched as his cape billowed as he walked, along with her 'shawl'. '_What makes her so special?'_It was time for the assembly. It was not surprising that Rosalie won the girl's best costume, Emmett winning boys best costume from a movie and Jasper and Alice won best couple. The only thing that was left was who was going to be king and queen. I really hope that it is Edward and I, just so that I can be held by him again.

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. I watched, numb as Edward carried Carrie down to the middle of the floor. I felt the feeling from before come back and grow stronger as he twirled her around in the air and as they embraced. I could feel anger growing as they started to waltz; they looked graceful as they spun around the floor. A watched as Edward leaned his forehead against hers. I watched as the song ended and they kissed._ 'He was never this openly affectionate with me. Sure he put his arm around me and sat with me at lunch, but he never openly kissed me. He never dressed up for me, even for prom where he wore a simple tux. Has he written her a song yet? Does he hold her while she sleeps? Why are they all so much more accepting of her than they were of me?' _

During the dance I watched as they all dance together, but it was mostly Edward and Carrie. He was even smiling. He didn't really smile when he took me to prom; he just made sure that I experienced everything. I went up to him and asked him to dance and he refused. He has never refused me anything before. It has to be because of Carrie, he is acting this way because of her. The feeling from before rises up and I began to rant in my mind, '_Edward is mine and will always be mine; just because I am with Jake now does not mean I will relinquish my claim to him.' _

That night I decided to tell Charlie what I saw that day in the café. "Dad," I said.

"Yeah Bells." he said in between bits of the meal I cooked for us.

"I think you ought to know something." He stopped eating to look at me. "I think the new girl Carrie, you remember her right?" He nodded and I continued. "Well I think that she might be or has been abused."

"What makes you say that Bells?" he asked his tone serious he was in cop mode which was good.

"Well she works at Maria's and when she went to take my plate away I saw that her arms were scars upon scars. There were even burn marks Dad. Plus she is always so skittish around people and flinches when people touch her. She doesn't eat, and she wears the same rags every day." It was not hard to add the same hysteric edge to my voice as I remembered my reaction to see such a thing. I was also a bit concerned but that was pushed into the back of my mind as I went along with the new feeling I've been having lately.

"Maybe I'll stop by tomorrow and have a look, how's that?" Charlie asked as he picked his fork back up to begin eating again.

"Thanks Dad." I told him feeling relieved at what he said.

Carrie's POV

When I woke up this morning I could tell that something bad was going to happen. I had this sinking feeling in my stomach; this foreboding sense of doom. I don't have Alice's gift but, I felt as if danger was right around the corner. I tried to think of happier thoughts to make it go away. Nothing made it go away, not even the thought of kissing Edward, or any part of yesterday. Whatever was invoking these feelings was going to be bad.

I got ready for school and prepared myself for a long lonely walk. I had grown use to either walking to school with Edward or someone in his family or him driving me to school. I am sure more now than ever that I've been spoiled because I miss them already. The school day was also long, lonely and boring. None of the Cullen's was there to brighten them up. In biology Bella told me, "Don't worry; the Cullen's don't come to school when it's nice."

"I know," I told her trying to sound friendly. "They already told me that they were going to be away for the weekend." She seemed shocked that I knew that they were gone, and her eyes seemed to narrow. '_Is she mad at me for some reason?' _Something deep down told me that I was right. It was kind of a gut feeling and it has never been wrong to date. It is how I have managed to survive as long as I have, I follow my instincts.

At lunch I went without because Edward was not there. Oh well, it won't kill me I've gone without food before, I can do it again. I worked on my homework, which there was a lot more of since we didn't do anything yesterday.

The rest of the day went as usual. In gym we started line dancing which I thought was fun. My new gym uniform finally came in, a couple of weeks after the teacher said that they would be in. My shirt was medium in size and the shorts were in a large.

After gym I went to study hall. After school I worked on my homework until it was time to go to work, which was the same as always. I walked home that night, and the feeling I had this morning came back twice as strong. With every step that I took my mind was screaming at me to turn around and run or go to the Cullen's even though they weren't home.

I wished I could listen to my instincts and not try to be a good little girl. When I approached the house Thomas and Liz were standing on the front porch waiting for me.'_ This can't be good.' _I took my book bag of and set it at my feet and took my 'submissive' position.

"We had a visitor today," Thom said. "It was Chief Swan. He said that it has come to his attention that we have not been properly taking care of our child. As you know we have no children living with us, we only have property. You must have opened your mouth and said something. It is likely that they heard something from you even though you have no mind and can only babble nonsense. However it happened, it has been done and you shall receive your punishment."

He walked toward me and fear began to permeate my mind, causing my body to stiffen and freeze. "Remember, you are worthless and good for nothing except serving us. You will never go anywhere. You are stupid and weak. You will always be here to serve us. The only way that you can escape is through death which I will make sure will be so long and painful that even with your pea sized brain you will beg for mercy. Do you have anything to say?"

Before I could stop myself I said, "You're wrong." I was too scared to say the rest which I thought. _'I'm better than you. You're the worthless ones. I will be free and there is nothing you can do about it. You may harm my body but I will no longer allow you to harm my spirit, my soul. You will be the ones begging for forgiveness for all eternity in the fires of hell. Do what you want I will not cry out and beg for the end. You shall not break me.' _The time didn't feel right to say it out loud yet.

Thomas backhanded me so hard that I went spinning and fell to the ground. He then yanked me up by my hair and punched me in the gut then dropped me. He then proceeded to kick my repeatedly in the ribs. He was wearing steel toed shoes. After a few minutes he stopped kicking my right side and I thought I had a broken rib or two because I could feel something move that I didn't before. He then kicked me along side of the head and things went dark.

I woke up a short time later chained in some clearing. I looked around there were other posts and rocks with chains nearby. _'So this is their new torture chamber_.' I felt a breeze against my skin I looked down to see that I was only wearing my underwear. I also felt a stinging sensation on parts of my body so I looked to see what the cause was. There was various slash marks across my skin; they suggest that my clothes had been cut off. I looked around me and found shreds which prove that they were cut off of me.

I looked at what I could see of myself and I was covered in bruises which suggest that they weren't too gentle with me while I was out. Then I felt someone stomp on my hand I stopped before I could scream out. I think a couple of my fingers broke if the odd angle they were at was anything to go by.

"Awe, we were so close to hearing you scream. I know what will get her to scream." Thom said as he grabbed my left wrist. Another set of hands, probably Liz, grabbed my arm further down. I started thrashing because I knew what they were planning to do. It's happened before. They quickly pushed as hard as they could in separate directions. I could not stop the scream that tore from my throat as they broke my arm. I even bit down so hard on my lower lip that I caused it to bleed.

"I think we should make her scream more," Liz said. She grabbed my right arm and proceeded to pull my arm out of its socket. That hurt some but not a whole lot for my shoulders are double jointed so I could easily pop it back in. It's just really sore afterwards and I have to watch so that I don't injure it.

"So have you learned your lesson?" Thom asked. I just spat in his direction. I don't remember anything after trying to avoid the shovel I saw heading toward my face. I woke up a couple of hours later when it started to rain. After I managed to sit up I looked at my watch to look at the time. My forearm was swollen and discolored that my watch was cutting into my skin, but I was unable to remove it. I saw that it was nearing six in the morning. Figures I wake up in time to get ready to go to school.

I somehow stumbled to my area. After I put my shoulder back into socket I took stock of my injuries. My arm was broken and I was covered in cuts and bruises. I had at least two ribs on my right side that were either bruised or broken and around the same on the left, which made my breathing quite difficult.

My two middle fingers on my right hand were broken. My wrists had rub marks and small cuts from the shackles. An upper left molar also got knocked out, I wasn't sure if it was from being kicked or hit with a shovel. The whole left side of my face was nothing but a large, swollen, bruised and cut up piece of flesh, and I had bruises on the right corner of my mouth and jaw.

Before I could go about to set my bones in hopefully the correct position, I grabbed a nearby stick, wrapped some scrap fabric around it and clenched it in my teeth like a gag. Already my entire body was throbbing in pain and I wanted to do nothing more than just lay down and not move, but I had to try and keep up a look of normalcy. I took a couple of deep breaths in order to prepare myself for what I was about to do. I mentally counted to three as I grabbed on to my already swollen wrist as best as I was able to; on the count of three I tugged as hard as I could. A scream escaped me but was muffled by the cloth that was jammed into my mouth and tears ran down my face as a creaking sound was heard due to the yank. As I tried to catch my breath I felt around on my arm top try and tell if it was set sort of correctly. It still felt a bit of so I inhaled deeply and held it as I pulled and twisted my arm until it felt to be in the correct position. Gods it hurt so much and this hard breathing that I'm doing to try and lessen the pain just caused my ribs to hurt worse.

After I had my arm splintered as best as I could it was time to do the same thing to my fingers. My jaw and teeth hurt so much from how hard I was clenching the gag and my throat was sore from the screams I released as I tried to set my bones. I was feeling so dizzy from the pain and probably low blood sugar as well, but I couldn't give in, I just couldn't. The fingers were harder to set since they were so swollen I couldn't tell where the brakes were. I worked on the ring finger first. I gave it a tug and sharp pains shot up my arm as it moved. I pulled it as straight as I could get it and tried to hold it there as I wrapped it to the pinky. It was the same with the other finger.

I was in so much pain yet I felt so numb at the same time. The only thing that I was really aware of was the sharp jolting throb of my arm and fingers and ribs and there was a stinging sensation of the various cuts and I had a throbbing headache on top of it all. I just wanted nothing more than to just crawl away somewhere to escape it all, but I had to keep moving. I had to go to school and then work to make it appear that all was well, I just have to work past the pain. I didn't need another reason for Thom and Liz to pay me any more attention than they already have.

I bandaged myself up as best as I could. I splintered and wrapped my arm fingers and rib cage as best as I could, and I put my right arm in a sling to be on the safe side. I crawled into my den and got my old clothes out. I put my really large sweater on over top of them and pulled my hood up. The hood was so large that you could barely make out my face if you looked me straight on. The sleeves went about six inches past my hands and almost came down to my knees; it was black in color.

I didn't have time to eat or clean up so I left. I managed to get my bag up on my good shoulder, but it also made it harder for me to breathe. It was a long difficult journey to school and I got there just as the first bell rung. As I headed to school my legs were trembling so much from exhaustion and being drained due to the pain that I kept tripping and stumbling as I walked along side of the road. I kept repeating to myself 'I _must keep going, I must keep moving, I must keep going, I must keep moving._' I stopped by my locker and put the rest of my books into my bag and went to class. In class I focused all of my attention to the teacher and my work. I had to constantly but my tongue to prevent myself from screaming out at the pain that I felt every time that I moved. I was surprised no one commented on my harsh breathing that I was doing in trying to cope with the throbbing sensations that were wracking my form. The whole day none of the teachers asked me to remove my hood. I only got scolded for not doing my homework.

I tried to get my work done during lunch and study hall. In gym thankfully we didn't have to change because both teachers called in sick, so that was like another study hall. At work I was told that I was on kitchen duty so I was glad that no one got to see me. I had a really hard time washing the dishes since it was hard to hold the dishes in any way, but it was my job to do and it needed to get done. I can't afford to get fired, that would just get Thom and Liz mad at me again. At least it's the weekend.

The only thing that kept me on my feet and kept me moving was because I was being stubborn about it. I was persistent as well. I can't afford to slack off or anything my survival depends on it. It not the first time that I have felt pain such as this, but as I have said before I just have to work past it. The mantra of just keep moving, just keep moving repeating over and over in my head. I am bound and determined to not to be seen as weak as they think me to be. To give into my pain could possibly lead to my death. Though it would mean that I will no longer be in pain, I am not ready to die yet. I will be strong, I must be strong, and I will overcome.

When I got home from work the light was on and there was a video camera set up pointing to where I was supposed to wait at. Thomas came out and turned the video camera on, then set it to record; he then left to go inside leaving the light on. I was left standing out there all night with the video camera watching my every move.

I didn't get to sleep that night or doing any homework for that was against the rules. When morning came I was allowed to leave to relieve myself and that is it. Thomas watched what the camera recorded then left with Liz for town. The light was still on and the camera was recording my every move again. They came back a couple of hours later with a dump truck following them. The dump truck unloaded a large amount of large stones and left.

"Each of these stone weighs anywhere between twenty to forty pounds, and there are also around one hundred of them. I want you, brat, to move all of them from the front yard into the back yard. As you put them in the back yard I want you to stack them into a pyramid. I want complete pyramids, not partial pyramids. So what are you waiting for? Get your lazy, no good ass to work."

The task was difficult to begin with, add a bum arm, shoulder, fingers and ribs, and no food or sleep since Thursday morning, makes it a lot more difficult. I had to be creative when I was building the pyramids because I couldn't make them too high and as the day wore on I was having trouble since the number size and shape varied I had to be creative on how to stack them. I took me until eleven to get the pyramids complete.

I reported to my post and again I was left out there all night with the camera once again recording my every move. That night, Saturday night, there was a nasty thunderstorm. It was pouring down rain and it was really windy. I struggled to stay on my feet, and I was weak from exhaustion and hunger. I usually love watching thunderstorms but I'm scared of being out in them, but here I was, all because some people thought that I needed to learn a lesson.

The storm finally broke as dawn approached. Again I was only allowed to leave to relieve myself. When he came back Thom had a laugh at watching the video. "Looks like you had a fun night." he said. If only the look that I was giving him mentally could kill. "Now for today Liz wants all of those stones that were moved yesterday used to line the house, gardens and drive."

I wanted to groan at that. It took me all day yesterday just to move them into the back yard and now they want me to move them again, how typical. I was already sore from yesterday and my stomach was constantly growling now, and I still have homework to do. I got to work anyways. My legs were protesting now because I haven't been off of my feet since Friday. My breathing has been nothing but short, harsh panting. I just couldn't catch my breath and my ribs hurt so much. My right arm was sore from where I supported most of the weight of the stones so that my left arm may not be disturbed and I would have to redo the bone setting.

My legs were trembling so bad from exhaustion from both the work and the pain that I thought that there was a constant earthquake going on; it even caused me to stumble and fall down a few times. I would either land on my front on top of the stone or on one of my sides or back. This of course caused me to let out a scream or sound of pain that I tried my best to hold in or make it so that it wouldn't be heard because it would jar my ribs and arms and fingers when I tried to catch myself. A few times when I fell I started a coughing fit that would leave me even weaker. The only thing that I could not prevent was the tears of pain, agony and frustration that fell unwillingly from my eyes.

It was ten o'clock at night before I finally finished with everything being satisfactory and I went to stand at my post. It was Sunday night and I really needed to get my work done. At midnight the porch light finally went out. I got my bag from underneath the porch, where I put it to keep it dry, and went slowly to my den. I just collapsed in exhaustion on my bed and stared unseeingly into the darkness of the cavern. For a while I sat there in the dark and I did something I haven't done since I was a little girl, I cried. I cried because that was the only way to let some of my frustration out. My ribs hurt worse afterward, but I felt a bit better emotionally. I never noticed my different colored tears.

When I finally got a fire going I got my books out and got to work on my homework. I finished writing my English essay; I just have to type it now. I did my translation worksheets and science worksheets and lab report done. However, by the time that I got done it was time for me to go to school, meaning that it was six a.m.

I slowly trudged out of my den and down the road toward school and it happened to be raining. I was just so exhausted and tired that I didn't remember a thing of my walk to school. All that I was aware of was the more than constant throbbing that resonated throughout my entire being. It was only my pure will that kept me moving when my body could no longer properly do so. Again I got in my seat just as the tardy bell rang. In English we went the computer lab to start typing our essays. It wasn't easy since all of the fingers on my right hand were wrapped up as a splint. I had to hold a pencil with each hand and use those to type with.

I was so happy to finally go to Latin, for I could see Emmett, I really needed to see a friendly face. When I did see him I felt some feeling come back to me and I didn't hurt as much. I finally felt as if I had some energy as I moved slightly faster to my seat that was right next to him.

"Hi there princess, or should I still call you queen," Emmett joked as I took my seat next to him.

"Oh Emmett, you have no idea how much I missed you guys." I told him. My throat felt so dry and scratchy and I could tell that my voice was very hoarse sounding but he didn't comment on it. I felt as if I could cry I was so glad to see a face that actually cared about me; a face that hasn't been behind a reason for my suffering.

"Why? Was it so hard with us gone?" He asked still in a joking manor his face smiling at the idea of being missed so much.

"You have no idea." I told him my tone quiet but honest.

"So what's with the sweater, Carrie? It looks like you've been wearing it for days," he said looking pointedly at my ratty sweater.

"You could say that. I'm also wearing it to keep warm, I'm feeling a bit chilled today." I said with my raspy voice while trying to smile. '_Probably because I caught a bit of a cold on account of being out in the storm; being in a weakened state didn't help either._' I thought.

Emmett walked me to Chemistry and told me about their weekend. I had a hard time trying to keep up with him which he noticed so he slowed a little bit. Rosalie had a gift waiting for me when I took my seat. "Come on open it." she said motioning to the gift. I picked it up with my sleeve covered hands and eventually I uncovered the box. Inside the box were a pair of brown leather, rabbit fur lined gloves. "Go on try them on." She urged with a motion of her hands.

"I can't Rose." I said in a whisper knowing that she was going to ask about my appearance and the way I am acting. They are going to find out no matter how hard I try to hide it. _'What's the point_,' I thought.

"And why not; they are yours so you are going to wear them." she said with an angry tone. She was probably offended because she thought that I was tuning her gift down. I turned to her and held my sleeve covered arms out to her. She looked at them then at me with a questioning look on her face. I had both arms in a sleeve because I didn't use the sling any longer. I had to take it off so that it would be easier for me to do my job.

"Just carefully push the sleeves back," I told her turning my head away, not making eye contact. She did as I told, starting with the right. She slowly uncovered my bandaged hand. She sent me a look and then continued with the other one. My left hand and arm were a nasty sight. I still had a makeshift splint in my arm which was even more swollen and a dark purple almost black color with yellow around the edges. My fingers were swollen now also and a bit discolored.

"Is that also why you have your hood up?" she asked and I nodded. She looked angry. I rolled my sleeves down and let her know that I was fine. During the rest of class I could feel her eyes on me every now and then. I just knew that they were all going to know what had happened to me while they were gone.

When we went to leave Rosalie grabbed my bag and walked with me out of class. Edward was out there waiting as usual and he did not seem happy. He must have gotten something from Rose. "What happened?" he asked his tone cold though I knew it was not directed at me. He was angry I could tell. Just hearing his tone of voice made me lower my head so that I only saw his feet and the floor. I just sighed and told him that I would explain later. He took my bag from Rosalie, put his hand on my back and I flinched with the contact because my back hurt from my ribs and the work I had to do during the weekend.

It was very hard to stay awake in any of my classes. But what do you expect when you haven't had any sleep since Wednesday night. Edward couldn't help me stay awake because he sat next to Bella. My stomach started to hurt again and that was what was keeping me awake; I haven't eaten since Thursday morning. I was going on four days without food. I got some water during the rainstorm Saturday night.

When the bell rang Edward practically carried me out to the parking lot and drove to the hospital where Carlisle works. Edward carried me into his office and sat me down. He had one of the nurses page him and tell him it was an emergency. Carlisle came in a short time later and looked between Edward and me. It was obvious that he was concerned since Edward was here at the hospital while school was still in session.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Edward came toward me and, like Rosalie had done, pulled back my sleeves, but I stopped him. I knew I would just have to take it off later.

"Edward, just help me get it off, it will save some time." I told him and he did as I asked. Underneath I was wearing my old tank top. I rubbed my right shoulder as best as I could with my left arm because it was a little sore. Edward was staring at my face, so I covered it with my right hand. I was so ashamed to be seen in such a manner in front of him. I already knew I was not much to look at, but with my bruises and such I had to look even worse. He and the others will probably never want to see me again after this.

"Let's get her to an exam room Edward and get some X-rays done." Carlisle said I could tell he was appalled by what he saw and that only served to make me feel even more self conscious.

"Is this going to take long?" I asked, "Because I really should get back to school. I don't want Thom and Liz to find out. I don't need another reason for them to be angry with me." I was not sure I could handle any more 'punishment' from them.

"It would take a while to give you the proper care, but I agree you two should be going back to school. We don't need something else to bother you. I'll write you both a note to get out of gym. I want you to come straight here so that I can examine you." Carlisle responded to my fears.

"Aye aye captain," I laughed trying to lighten the mood, but the small chuckle caused me to cough, which caused my ribs to hurt; so I wrapped my arms around myself to try and stop the pain. The pain caused some tears to form and again I didn't notice that one set was crimson and the others normal. Edward took a Kleenex and dabbed it at my eyes and face. "I'm fine," I wheezed, "I'm fine." I finished while trying to wave away the hand looking to cleanse me of my tears.

We made it back just as lunch was ending. "So much for getting something to eat," I said as I felt my stomach cramp and then rumble. It felt as though knives were moving around in there.

"You'll get food after Carlisle checks you out," Edward said. As he walked with me he had a hold of my uninjured arm to help me walk and to make sure that I wouldn't fall down. I was just so dizzy from over all exhaustion and from being hungry as well. Alice met us at the door and took my stuff from Edward and led me to math class. I had gotten my sweater back on in Edward's car thanks to his help. After math class Edward was already there waiting for me. He still had a serious expression on his face, and his eyes have been a dark color ever since I took off my sweater. He signed out of school and then I did shortly after.

When we reached the hospital Carlisle and Esme were there waiting for us. When I got out of the car Esme came up to me and wrapped her arms carefully around me. She released me and Edward picked me up but I was too tired to argue with him about it; I just rested my head against his shoulder.

We all headed into the examination room and Edward placed me on the table and gently held my left hand. Esme took a seat on my right and Carlisle took the doctors chair in front of me.

"Alright Carrie why don't you tell us what happened," Carlisle said in a tone that told me he was in doctor mode holding a clip board looking ready to start jotting stuff down.

"I'll try to make it fast, I need to go to work at four," I said glancing at the clock on the wall by the door.

"Don't worry Carrie, we already had a talk with your boss and she understands," Esme said kindly in her mothering tone. The more I get to know this family the more I wish it was mine. I wish I had a mother and father like Carlisle and Esme; I hope that Edward and the others realized how lucky they are to have them as parents.

"Okay fine, but I'm still giving you a shortened version." I said. "I got home Thursday night after work and Thom and Liz were waiting for me. That is never a good sign. Thom told me that Chief Swan paid them a visit. Thom started talking trash about me, and before I could stop myself I told him he was wrong. He backhanded me and then proceeded to kick the daylights out of me. He kicked me in the head and the lights went out for a while.

"When I woke up I was chained to some post which was a clearing that they had made into their new torture chamber. I was covered in scratches and bruises from where they brought me to where I was at and when they cut my clothes off of me. Thom stepped on my right hand, breaking my fingers but I didn't scream so they broke my arm. I screamed and bit my lip so hard it bled. Liz pulled my shoulder out of socket and things continued until he struck me with a shovel and the lights went out again.

"I woke up in time to bandage myself up some, put my shoulder back and go to school. That night when I went home the light was on so I took my post after putting my bag up. A couple of hours later Thom comes out and sets a camera up to record my every move.

"I stood there until morning when he put me to work to move the dump truck full of 20-40 pound stones he had delivered from the front yard to the back yard and build pyramids with them. I stood out all that night again, even during the storm.

"Sunday I was told to take all the stones I moved yesterday and move them so that they were a border for the house, gardens, and driveway. At midnight I was finally allowed to leave. I cried to let some frustration out, and then stayed up to do all my homework. I finally finished at six and headed off to school. The rest is history." The entire time my voice was really raspy and as I spoke it got wispier and softer as I lost my voice. If it wasn't for their excellent hearing I'm sure that they would have had a hard time hearing what it was that I was saying.

"When was the last time you ate and slept?" Esme asked her voice trembling she looked to be so close to tears that I angled my face away so I wouldn't have to see her expression. The look on her face made me want to cry, but I can't cry in front of them.

Crying is a sign of weakness and I can't afford to be seen as weak.

"I last slept on Halloween night and I ate last on Thursday morning." I replied after I took a small drink of water offered by Carlisle. _'I don't count the time that I was knocked out as sleep.'_ I was definitely on auto pilot right now. Esme was stroking my hair and it felt pretty nice and I leaned into it. Once again I found myself wishing she was my 'mother' instead of Liz. I also found myself reluctantly wondering how my real mother would be reacting if she saw what I have gone through.

"Let's get some x-rays done and then we'll take a look at the rest of you," Carlisle said his eyes closed tight pinching the bridge of his nose. Clearly he did not like what he had heard.

Both he and Edward left so that Esme could help me get into a hospital gown and hospital shorts. I watched as she inspected every part of me as if counting each of my injuries. I wouldn't be surprised if that was exactly what she was doing.

"Now I have some new additions to my collection," I joked, but I don't think that she liked it. The guys came in and Edward was pushing a wheel chair. "I'm not getting in that that is for old people." Esme just picked me up and put me in it anyways.

In x-ray they took a picture of my bones head to toe. When we got back to the examination room the rest of the gang was there. I could hear them gasp as they saw me. I knew that the cuts and bruises were bad, but they will heal. I guess I should have considered how much better their eyes see then mine. The cuts and bruises probably look much worse to them. Then it dawned on me that I haven't really seen what I look like so it could be pretty bad.

"Don't worry guys it's not as bad as it looks, of course I could be wrong, I'm just too far out of it right now, and Carlisle hasn't even given me any pain meds yet," I joked again. And again I ended up gasping in pain with different colored tears running down my face. Maybe I should stop making jokes because it hurts way too much.

"Alright while we are waiting for the x-rays I'll examine the rest of you," Carlisle said as he approached me.

"She has thirty slashes that appear to be infected, the rest appear as if they will heal on their own. Most of them as you can see are on her legs." Esme said. I was right she was taking an inventory.

"Well those will have to be reopened so that the infection can be drained. And I'll check your blood sugar while I'm at it. You all can go wait somewhere so that the blood does not bother you, I'll have a couple nurses help me." Carlisle said while jotting a few things down on the clip board he has in his hands. I could not help but shiver in fear the mere thought off all my cuts being opened again I can just taste the pain.

I had almost three hundred stitches when I was done. That is the most I ever had, they are the only ones that I have had. My face even got a few stitches. The x-rays came in and it was confirmed that I had four broken ribs, two on each side, the others were bruised. My arm was broken and so were my fingers. They were all put into a cast, and he wrapped my shoulder up also to it could heal faster. I came out looking like a mummy. The left side of my face was wrapped up and the rest of my body from my neck down was wrapped up as well. As I looked over all the casts and stitches that covered me I wondered how I was going to hide this from Thom and Liz. They would assume I had told someone what had happened if I came home looking like I had been to a hospital. I also risk punishment if they think there is now a bill coming to pay for all the work I had done. Their assumptions will no doubt lead to another punishment.

It also turned out that I had a slight cold and was given an antibiotic for that and the infectious cuts. With that I was on the road to recovery. I just wanted some of Esme's home cooked food and to sleep in my bed. They could take care of everything else, I just wanted those two things, and I just needed those two things for my recovery. I will deal with all the other potential problems at a later time. I'm just too exhausted to deal with them now.

PLEASE REVIEW, POLL IS STILL GOING ON


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

ALRIGHT, THE LAST CHAPTER WAS HARSH WASN'T IT. TIME FOR EDWARD'S POV. ALRIGHT THANKS TO YOU THAT HAVE REVIEWED: **RHI17, RATGIRL407, RANDOMGIRL110, ANIHITACHIINLOVER, AND CHIKA1345**

In rememberance of 9/11 and all those who departed from this world far too early. "Certain events may seem altogether tragic, but it is that tragedy that gives us strength to continue fighting/living/going" - Unknown

**Chapter 13 Recovery**

**Edward's POV**

I was waiting in the parking lot for Carrie to show up. I didn't want to get her in trouble because of me showing up. Her parents were moving about and Thom was getting the mail. So here I am, school is about ready to start and she hasn't shown up yet. '_If she doesn't show up today I'll go by and check on her_,' I thought. I had a bad feeling and I didn't like it.

I had a bad feeling while we were all away hunting for something to do during a sunny day. I just thought that the bad feeling I had was due to the storm that I saw rolling in over the town. It looked to be a nasty one from where we were hunting. I was worried that water was going to get into Carrie's den since it was underground and the entrance on a downward slope. I asked Alice if she could see anything, but all she got were hazy blurs. This made me worry as well but Carlisle assured me that things would be fine and we would see for ourselves soon enough. That calmed me down some but I kept an eye on the storm in apprehension.

I tried to search her out during first period but I couldn't find her. I tried to see if anyone else noticed her but I got nothing again. This had me worried because it appeared like she wasn't at school. I had to wait until second period before I was able to catch glimpses of her from Emmett, and I didn't like what I saw. She was wearing her rags again and she was completely dwarfed in her large black hoodie, which was covered in grime like she hasn't taken it off in a few days. Seeing her wearing that again worried me. Later what I saw from Rose had me boiling in rage. I felt like I could spit fire I was so angry. I watched through Rosalie's mind as she pulled Carrie's sleeves up, and it took everything that I had not to go to her then. I saw her right hand wrapped up and the other was swollen and discolored. I could feel myself trembling at Rosalie's thoughts and the snatches of conversation I managed to hear through her. I tried to reach Carrie's mind again, but I just found a haze. I tried to look through other people's minds but it was as if they didn't even notice her.

When the bell finally rang I rushed to her class to wait for her. As she came out I looked her over, but I couldn't see anything because of her sweater and I couldn't see her face due to the hood and because she was looking at the ground. "What happened?" I asked unable to keep the anger from my voice that still seethed beneath the surface. She just said that she will tell me later. She was fidgeting a little acting like she didn't want to be there. I took her bag from Rosalie, which I knew couldn't be a good thing because she never uses her bag. I put my hand behind her and it didn't escape my notice that she flinched and moved a bit out of my touch.

During biology I kept glancing at her over my shoulder; she seemed to have trouble staying awake and I could hear her stomach growling loudly. Right when the bell rang, I practically carried her out of the school and I drove her to the hospital for Carlisle to check her over. I carried her into Carlisle's office, sat her down, and told one of the nurses to have him come to his office immediately.

Carlisle came in a short time later and looked between us. "What's wrong?" he asked concerned seeing us standing there when we should be in school. I went to pull back Carrie's sleeves like I had seen Rosalie do but she stopped me.

"Edward, just help me get it off, it will save some time." she said. I was too concerned about her too worry about modesty and what was appropriate. As I saw what was underneath I had to resist the urge to hunt down and tear apart the person who did this to her.

She was covered in cuts and bruises; it looked like someone was trying to beat her to death. I saw that she had a make shift splint on her forearm and hand and she had rags wrapped around her torso. Then I saw her face and I felt a numbness settle where my heart is. The whole left side of her face was swollen, discolored and had some cuts. Her bottom lip looked like it was almost bitten off and her top lip was split. There was bruising along her right jaw. She started rubbing her right shoulder which was slightly swollen and discolored. She then noticed that I was looking at her face and she covered it with her arm while turning away from me slightly as if ashamed of her appearance. It was killing me that something like this happened to her while we were away hunting.

"Let's get her to an exam room Edward and get some X-rays done." Carlisle said I could tell from his thoughts that he was appalled, disgusted that someone would do this to her. '_The poor child,' _his thoughts rang through my mind.

"Is this going to take long?" Carrie asked, "Because I really should get back to school. I don't want Thom and Liz to find out. I don't need another reason for them to be angry with me." I wanted to argue that she wasn't going anywhere until she was taken care of. I was about to say so but Carlisle cut me off.

"It would take a while to give you the proper care, but I agree you two should be going back to school. We don't need something else to bother you. I'll write you both a note to get out of gym. I want you to come straight here so that I can examine you." he said out loud but continued his words in his thoughts. _'We don't want to give them another reason to hurt her so soon after she had endured this.' _I wanted to disagree, but I knew Carlisle was right. I hate that we have to leave her to live with those … those monsters. Yes I called them monsters; they don't deserve to be called human for what they did to another person; their own flesh and blood to be more precise.

"Aye aye captain," she said, trying to lighten the atmosphere. Her chuckle started a cough, which in turn made her wrap her arms around herself as if in pain. Then I noticed tears streaming down her face. One set was normal and the others were crimson; blood. I took a Kleenex and dabbed it at her eyes and face. "I'm fine," she wheezed as she tried to wave me off, "I'm fine." After everything she still tries to be strong, she shouldn't have to do things like this.

We left and we headed back to school. I watched as she struggled to get her sweater back on. I eventually had enough of that and helped her get it back on. We made it back just as lunch was ending. "So much for getting something to eat," she said and I heard her stomach growl from hunger as if in agreement.

"You'll get food after Carlisle checks you out," I told her. Alice met us at the door; Rose must have explained what happened. She took Carrie's things from me and led her to class. I wanted to go with her but I knew she would be fine with Alice and that I would see her shortly. That didn't stop me from worrying about her though and wishing that time would move faster.

I was right there as her math class let out. I already know that I am going to have to hunt again when we get home. I signed out of school and then Carrie did shortly after. I shouldered both of our bags, held on to one of her arms with my other around her to steady her as we walked to my car. When we reached the hospital Carlisle and Esme were there waiting for us. Esme came up to her and wrapped her arms carefully around Carrie when she got out of the car. I picked her up after she was released. She didn't argue or fight so I know something must be wrong. We all headed into the examination room and I placed her on the table then gently held her left hand. Esme took a seat on her right and Carlisle took the doctors chair in front of us.

"Alright Carrie why don't you tell us what happened," Carlisle asked and from his tone I and thoughts I could tell he was in doctor mode holding a clip board looking ready to start jotting stuff down.

"I'll try to make it fast, I need to be a work at four," she said as she glanced at the clock.

"Don't worry Carrie, we already had a talk with your boss and she understands," Esme said kindly in her mothering tone. She was looking at Carrie in worry; the sweater had been removed after Carrie was placed on the table so she could see what we had seen earlier.

"Ok fine, but I'm still giving you a shortened version." she replied. As she told her story I had to watch myself so that I didn't squeeze her hand and hurt her. I came to a decision that I was going to be staying with her while she was there or I was going to lock her in her room at the manor so she couldn't be hurt.

"When was the last time you ate and slept?" Esme asked her voice trembling she looked like she could be crying if that was possible for her. Her thoughts were centered on how if she were Carrie's mother she would treat her as she deserved to be treated. Esme was already viewing Carrie as one of her daughters. Though from what I could gather from her thoughts and tone Esme was feeling a bit more motherly about Carrie then she does of Rosalie and Alice because Carrie needs a mother more than the others. After all Rosalie and Alice were over decades old and Carrie was only 17 still very much a child in her eyes.

"I last slept on Halloween night and I ate last on Thursday morning." she replied.

She seemed really out of it; Carlisle and I shared a concerned look when she told us this. Esme was petting her hair, and she seemed to enjoy that. I'll have to remember that. As I watched Esme and Carrie I realized that Carrie needs Esme as Esme needs her. It has been a really long time since Esme had been able to truly be mother someone. More than that, this was the first time someone really needed her mothering skills.

"Let's get some x-rays done and then we'll take a look at the rest of you," Carlisle said his expression tight and his thoughts angry and concerned for her welfare. We left so Esme could help her into some hospital clothes. I block my mind from Esme's thoughts. I didn't need to get any angrier than I was; I was close to snapping already. I wanted to know how bad the injuries were, but at the same time I didn't, I will find out soon enough. I also blocked anything I might see to be modest. When we came in I was pushing a wheel chair that Carlisle had a nurse get for us. "I'm not getting in that that is for old people," Carrie said when she spotted it. Esme just picked her up and put her in it so that she wouldn't be further injured in any way.

When we came back from her head to toe x-ray, the rest of the family was waiting for us. They were just as shocked as I was when I first saw her injuries. Carrie must have seen their reaction for she said, "Don't worry guys it's not as bad as it looks, of course I could be wrong, I'm just too far out of it right now, and Carlisle hasn't even given me any pain meds yet," And again she ended up gasping in pain with different colored tears running down her face for her attempt to lighten the mood. She shouldn't have to do that. I felt Jasper use his gift in an attempt to help her out. He didn't like seeing her in pain like the others.

"Alright while we are waiting for the x-rays I'll examine the rest of you," Carlisle said as he approached her.

"She has thirty slashes that appear to be infected, the rest appear as if they will heal on their own. Most of them as you can see are on her legs." Esme said. She must have looked her over as she was helping Carrie change. I guess it was a good thing that I blocked my mind from hers.

"Well those will have to be reopened so that the infection can be drained. And I'll check your blood sugar while I'm at it. You all can go wait somewhere so that the blood does not bother you, I'll have a couple nurses help me." Carlisle said while jotting a few things down on the clip board he has in his hands. It didn't escape my notice that Carrie grimaced and shivered a bit when Carlisle mentioned reopening the wounds. A nurse went in a short time later with the developed film and stayed in there to help Carlisle and the other nurse bandage her up. While we were waiting I told them what Carrie told us about what happened to her. When I was done they all had looks of various concern on their faces and were looking down the hall where the room that held Carrie.

Carlisle came out after some time and explained her injuries to us. He went over to where there were some light screens for x-rays and put up the films while he explained the injuries she sustained. "I gave her some pain medication before I got started so she wouldn't feel much discomfort while treating her injuries. She needed a lot of stitches, the most that I have ever had to do. Both bones in her left forearm are broken, as well as the two middle fingers on her right hand. She did a decent job of setting them back herself; she probably had a lot of practice if her x-rays are anything to go by. I had to reset them properly; it caused some discomfort since the bones are already starting to heal. There is one break in the ribs that was dangerously close to puncturing her lung. She also has hairline fractures on her left cheek bone that we will have to watch, and a tooth got knocked out. The ones next to it may be cracked. She also has four broken ribs and the rest are badly bruised. She is dehydrated and her blood sugar levels are dangerously low and she is suffering from exhaustion. I've given her something for the pain and for the infections. She also has a bit of an upper respiratory infection with a slight fever so she has medicine for that also. When she comes out you can take her home. We already talked to her boss so she doesn't have to go to work; we just need to figure out what to do about later. I don't want her out in her condition."

As he explained the injuries he pointed to the fractures on the film showing us the breaks. All of us were gathered around to see for ourselves. I could see traces of past fractures on the film, which were numerous. I could even see some flaws in the healing of the bones from where they were not set right and therefore healed incorrectly, but not bad for someone with no medical training and x-rays available. I'm surprised that she doesn't show any signs of them bothering her or some deformity due to them. The others were thinking about the signs of old injuries as well and were thinking along the same lines as me.

One of the nurses came out then pushing a wheel chair. In it was Carrie who was wrapped up like a mummy; barely any of her skin was visible. She appeared to be even more out of it now than she was earlier, must be due to the medicine that Carlisle gave to her and the exhaustion and such catching up with her. She was also wrapped in a blanket to cover her up more and keep her warm. "When you get her home put her to bed, she really needs her rest. Try giving her some soup broth also, she needs nourishment, but don't give her any solids yet. When I get home we'll discuss what to do." Carlisle said looking towards Esme and I knew that we would make sure it got done.

I handed Alice my keys and I gently picked Carrie out of the chair and carried her out to my car. When I picked her up I tried to be careful of her injuries. She leaned her head against my shoulder and buried her nose close to my neck; she appeared to be asleep. Alice opened the back door for me to get in. I placed Carrie on my lap and held her close. I watched as Esme got into her car and headed toward town. Alice followed Rosalie's car home.

When we got to the house and pulled into the garage, Alice came around and opened the door for me. With her help I was able to get out of the car with Carrie still in my arms. She had woken slightly in the process, but she soon went back to sleep in my arms. I carried her up to her room and set her down on the bed. I left as Rosalie and Alice went in to change her clothes. They came out a few minutes later. "She was having trouble breathing lying down, so I propped her up," Alice said. She headed toward the living room, and I went into Carrie's room.

She was sitting up against the head board, with pillows cushioning her back. Her face was turned away from me, toward the window. The thick heavy curtains were pulled back, and the shear ones were left where they were. The widows were all slightly opened to let fresh air in. Even with the sunlight in her eyes she was sound asleep. I sat down next to her and held her bandaged hand in my own. I stroked what skin of her hand that I could.

Around six o'clock I heard Carlisle came home and come up into Carrie's room and stood next to me. "How is she doing Edward?" he whispered so not to wake her yet while looking towards her sleeping figure.

"She's been sound asleep since we came home." I responded in a tone just as low and looked at her turned face again.

"We're going to have to wake her so that she can eat something and we need to discuss what we are going to do. She is also going to be due for some more medicine," he said quietly then left.

I turned to Carrie to wake her up. I really didn't want to after so little sleep she has had, but I knew that what Carlisle said to be right. "Carrie you need to wake up now," I said as I lightly shook her uninjured arm. My response was a disgruntled moan. She tried to go back to sleep but I couldn't let her unfortunately. Eventually she was about halfway awake, and I leaned in to kiss her. It took a while but she responded a little bit. I pulled away.

"Isn't this kind of like Sleeping Beauty?" she asked softly. I smiled and kissed her again.

"Come on you need to eat something and we need to talk." I told her. I watched as she started to drift off again. I picked her up gently and carried her down to the dining room. There everyone was sitting in their seats and Esme was putting a bowl of broth in Carrie's place. I set her in her seat and then took my seat across from her.

I watched as she gently swayed in her seat and struggled to wake up and stay awake long enough to get things done. After a last small shake of her head she grabbed a spoon and tried to eat. She couldn't use her left hand because her left wrist was wrapped up in a cast along with her elbow, plus it was in a sling. She tried her right hand even though the fingers were wrapped up (to a little past her wrist), but she was able to hold the spoon between her thumb and the inside of her hand. It was a little awkward because her right shoulder was wrapped.

Alice tried to help her, but she refused saying that she could still feed herself, but thanked her anyway; figures that she would be stubborn about that. I got tired though of watching her make a mess so I switched places with Alice and fed Carrie myself. She tried to argue but I just gave her a look to tell her to just shut up and eat. She looked a little downcast but she stopped fighting it and ate what I gave her. I only managed to get her to eat about a bowl of soup before she said that she was full.

"You should eat more," I said and she shook her head no.

"She's right; it's not good to eat too much at once," Carlisle said. He got up and left, he

came back and set five pills in front of her and told her to take them, which she did. She then got up weakly and started toward the living room, wobbling with every step.

"Where are you going?" I asked getting up from my seat to follow and make sure she does not hurt herself anymore then she already is.

"To the living room I don't want to fall asleep and fall out of the chair or hit my head on the table." she said. Everyone got up and followed her and I managed to catch her before she fell when going down the stairs leading to the living room. I picked her up and carried her over to the love seat and sat her down, and I sat next to her. She leaned against me and I wrapped my arm around her. I could tell that she was fighting sleep again.

"Ok, yawn, what do you want to talk about?" she asked clearly still very tired.

"Tell us everything that happened and don't leave any detail out," Carlisle said. And so she started her story again starting from when I took her home Wednesday night, leaving no detail out. It was so much easier to get information out of her when she was tired I noticed. About halfway through the retelling I moved so that my legs were up on the love seat and she was on top of me leaning back against my chest and my arms around her. She didn't seem to notice the move or the position we were in. As she finished it was silent as we processed what she told us. I concentrated solely on her as she told us what happened to her in order to try and keep my inner beast/monster within its cage. The brutality of humans on their own kind still baffles even after all of these years.

"I guess your vision came to pass Alice," Emmett said his tone somber as the mood in the room darkened a bit at his words.

"So what is next Doc?" Carrie asked in a sleepy, dead voice. I had a small smile on my face that even with the condition she is in she still uses humor. I guess it is just one of the ways that she copes, or she is doing it for our benefit.

"I suggest that you stay here, and that you don't go to school for the rest of the week," he said.

"No way am I missing school. If I'm not dying I'm going. Just let me get some sleep, get cleaned up, give me breakfast and I'll go. While I'm thinking of it, I've got homework to do," she said while trying to get up. I just tightened my grip around her to prevent her from moving, but not hard enough to hurt her.

"We'll take care of it Carrie, you just get some sleep," Emmett said his voice kind, but missing his usual jovial carefree mood.

"Way ahead of you Emm," she said already drifting off in my arms.

"She certainly is a stubborn one," Esme said. "She certainly deserves better too." She came over and picked Carrie up so that I could get up. I then took her from Esme and brought her back up to her room. I placed her like she was earlier, tucked her in, closed her curtains most of the way but left the windows partially open. I then made my way quietly to the door and closed it as I left.

When I came back to the living room Rose, Alice, Emmett had Carrie's books in front of them which were the same as they class they had with her. Carlisle and Esme were in the study discussing what they should do about this whole situation. I grabbed her biology things and Jasper took her English things. A few hours later at around ten Alice left and when she came back down wearing the clothes that Carrie was wearing earlier today. We packed up Carrie's bag, and Alice took it and left to stand in Carrie's place. We all went to do our own things and every now and then one of us would go in and check on Carrie and occasionally sit with her. Alice came home around two o'clock, we were sitting in the living room watching a movie.

"So what did you have to do?" I asked curious about what other horrible things they were going to try and make her do in her condition.

"Nothing, I just stood there. How she does it, I don't know. It was so boring just standing there doing nothing. Thom did mention the he was going to talk to Carrie's boss and have her start working the weekends," Alice said her mood as different from the norm as Emmett's.

"I'm going to go hunt. Does anyone want to come with me?" I asked. They all nodded, we just had to wait for Alice to change.

The next morning

I went into Carrie's room to wake her. I really didn't want to wake her or let her go to school, but she wants to go. It took a while but I finally got her up. She looked like she could use some more sleep, but she's a stubborn one. I left her with Alice to help her get washed up. Esme went in later to change her bandages. Carrie came down later in a pair of dark jeans and a white tank top. The sling was still there and her shoulder wasn't wrapped. Her face also wasn't covered in bandages, but had some band aids; it was still swollen and discolored. She had a brace on for her ribs.

"I hope you'll be putting more clothes on than that," I said knowing that she would not want people to see her like this.

"Of course, I'm just waiting for my hair to dry some." she replied. I put my hand on the injured side of her face. She grabbed it and held it there.

"Your hand feels so good, nice and cold." I was glad that I could help sooth her pain even if only a little bit.

"Maybe it will help with the swelling," I suggested. She just sent me a small smile and walked to the dining room.

Esme was setting out some breakfast and asked, "How are you feeling Carrie?"

"I'm not one hundred percent yet, but I'm getting there. I just need more sleep and more of your cooking and I'll be alright." she said trying to give a large reassuring smile but was only able to manage a twitch of the lips.

"Here are your morning pills," Esme said handing her some. "These you need to take at lunch," she said setting a couple of bottles next to her plate. "And these you take whenever you're in pain." she said again setting another bottle next to the others. I grabbed the ones for lunch and put them in my pocket while she put the pain meds in her pocket.

After she ate breakfast Esme did her hair into a French braid, and helped her put another shirt on and her black hoodie, which had been washed. Before we left I made her put on my jacket for another layer of protection. With both the hoodie and the jacket the left sleeve was empty. When we arrived at school, I carried her bag, as well as my own and we stood with the others. Carrie put her hood up before we got out so her face would be hidden; I'm surprised no one has said anything about that yet.

Bella came up to us and said, "Hey Edward, Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper."

"What about me," Carrie said with a mock pout.

"Oh, hi I guess." Bella said her tone was blasé as if it was a hassle to acknowledge Carrie at all.

"What do you want Bella?" I asked my tone purposefully cold I did not forget her part in all this.

"To talk to you guys; it's been a while." she said as if nothing in the world is wrong.

"Well we don't feel like talking to you," Rosalie said in her normal bitchy tone she reserved for the early Bella days.

"Why not," Bella asked her tone was confused.

"You have caused injury to one of our family," Emmett said in a way that accused her of being stupid for not figuring it out herself.

"Who," Bella asked truly confused and puzzled by our reaction to her.

"Carrie," we all replied.

"But she's not one of you," Bella argued her tone petulant reminiscent of a spoiled child.

"She is one of us as you were once one of us," Alice told her. I was slightly surprised that Alice was the one that said it, they are such close friends.

"And what have I done to injure her?" she questioned her arms crossed over her chest as if she had done nothing and was being wrongly accused of a crime.

"You broke your promise, you told Charlie about what you saw at the cafe and it had horrible consequences," I informed her, my voice still as cold as it was when I greeted her.

"Well she looks fine to me," Bella said looking pointed over at the concealed Carrie. Rose pulled up one sleeve, as I pulled up the other empty one so she could see the bandages and cast. Emmett pulled back Carrie's hood enough so that Bella could see her face.

Bella looked shocked for a second before she said, "How do you know that she didn't do that to herself?" looking at Carrie as if challenging her.

"I'm not desperate enough to bring harm upon myself in any way, shape or form." Carrie replied with a hint of venom in her voice. She took a step toward Bella and said, "You cannot hide anything from me Isabella Swan." Carrie started to circle around Bella and she looked slightly frightened. "Unlike Edward and the others I can read you perfectly. I've had to learn how to read people to survive." she continued to circle Bella. Her voice was calm yet slightly terrifying. "You see me as a challenge, a threat. You're jealous. You're jealous of me and the attention that I have been receiving from the Cullen's. I could easily tell you that what you are feeling is your own fault, but that is not my place." She stopped circling and backed away to stand next me as she finished saying that. She reminded me of a tiger circling her prey.

"She's right Bella," I said. "You made your choice and there is no way that I can take you back; especially since you have been sleeping with the fleabag. Don't give me that look, your scent has taken on some of his," I said as she looked at me shocked at what I said.

"You are his mate now, and therefore our enemy due to the treaty." I wrapped my arm carefully around Carrie and we left, leaving Bella alone by our vehicles. It was strangely liberating saying those things too her. Maybe she'll understand now that there can be nothing more between us.

"Is it true what you said," Jasper asked Carrie as we walked away.

"I never lie." she replied. We went our separate ways and I walked with Carrie to English and took the stuff out the she needed or might need and left to go to my class.

Carrie's POV

I watched as Edward left to go to his class. I had a feeling that something was said today that had needed to be said. We had the mobile lab in English today. I handed in a plain copy of my rough draft essay, a rough draft with correction marks, and my final draft. I have to remember to thank whoever did this for me later. The teacher said that I could use my free time on the internet. I grabbed a pair of earphones and listened to music. When the bell rang, Emmett came in, packed up my bag and carried it for me as he walked me down the hall to Latin.

"So how are you doing princess," he asked me with a smile trying to lighten my mood.

"I'm fine. I just have a bit of a headache from this morning. I should never let my anger get the best of me. At least I'm able to control myself." I said shaking my head in self disappointment.

"I think you scared the crap out of Bella; you can be scary sometimes," he said with a laugh because he thought that it was funny that a group of vampires find a human to be even remotely scary.

"I wasn't going to stand by as she insulted your intelligence. She can pick fun at me as much as she wants, I'm used to it, but don't mess with those that I care about." I said fiercely. Never before had I felt the need to be protective of someone other than myself, but it feels nice.

"Awe, you love me. Just don't let Rosie or Edward here you say that," Emmett joked but as he did I realized that it was true. I did love him, just like I loved Alice, Rosalie, and Jasper. I loved Carlisle and Esme differently than them though. The love I felt for Emmett and the others was one of siblings; I loved them like true brothers and sisters. The loved I held for Esme and Carlisle was of a parental kind. I loved them the way one would love their family, I had never loved anyone in a familial way so I'm not use to the feeling. And Edward, the feelings I feel for him are special. I am afraid to label them as love, but I am sure I do. In class we were still translating Daimon and Emmett was writing everything down for me on account of my hands. I can write with both, but my right is the better of the chicken scratch, and that hand was out of commission and my left arm was in a sling.

After class Emmett gathered my things up and carried my bag to Chemistry. He handed my bag to Rosalie and left to go to his own class. Rosalie took my things out and took notes for me, I had to do the bell quiz and in class worksheets on my own though. She too packed my things up and handed my bag to Edward who was next to the door as we came out.

"Don't people find it suspicious that you can travel so quickly?" I asked him as we walked to our next class.

"I guess not," he replied. "I would give you a greeting kiss, but I cannot see your face." He teased with a smile.

"Just follow the glow of my blush," I told him. He just wrapped an arm around me and kissed the hood of my sweater over my head. When we took our seats in class, he sat next to me and took my stuff out and then his. He went up to the teacher when he was finished, after a moment the teacher nodded and Edward came back and sat next to me.

"This is my new seat," he said in satisfaction and a small smile. I flashed him a smile that I knew he could see with his spectacular eyesight and he smiled back flashing his perfect pearly whites. Bella came in, looked at us then sat down in her seat with a huff. I could already tell she was going to cause problems.

"Alright class, settle down so I can explain today's lab," he said. Bella raised her hand.

"Yes, Ms. Swan, what is it?"

"Isn't it against school policy to wear hats or hoods in the building during school hours?" He nodded. "Then shouldn't Carrie take down her hood. She's been wearing it since Thursday," Bella said accusingly. I really hate it when I'm right.

"Really, I haven't noticed." He said in a light hearted way with his eyebrows raised in surprise as if just noticing Carrie for the first time.

"So much for being invisible, I'm only that way until someone points me out," I said to myself and Edward.

"Please, remove your hood Carrie," he requested of me.

"I don't think I will. Once I do you'll ask me to replace it," I told him. He looked at me questionably. "Let's say I had an accident and my face doesn't look that pleasant."

"Show me and I'll think about it," he said as he went out into the hall. I followed him out and used my covered, free hand to push my hood far enough back so he could see my face. His eyes widened in shock and said that I could keep my hood up and walked back into the classroom. I took my seat next to Edward as the teacher began the class. Bella sent me a glare and I sent her a smirk, which she couldn't see.

The bell rang and Edward packs up my stuff, slung my bag over his shoulder, wrapped his arm around me and walked me to lunch. He sat my stuff down and went to get me a lunch. Alice came and sat on my left, took my bag and got the things that I wanted out of it. She wrote down my answers, and she would help me if I was wrong; she made sure that it looked like my handwriting. Emmett wrote down my translation for me.

Edward came back with a ham sandwich, milk, peaches, and baby carrots. He pulled his chair right next to me so that we were practically flush against each other. "You need to take your pills first," he said as he reached into his pocket and brought out my pills. He popped those into my mouth and held my drink up for me.

"Can you get ones out of my pocket please?" I asked him for I was having trouble getting them out. He turned me so that my back was toward him and he leaned me back toward his lap. He took his left hand and reached across to my right pocket and reached in to get my pills. He took one out while still holding me across his lap, slipped the bottle back into my pocket and sat me back up.

I took the pill then he held the sandwich up to my mouth. "I can feed myself," I complained embarrassed about him feeding me in public.

"I'm making sure that you eat," he told me in a no nonsense way. "I don't call what you did last night and this morning eating. That's why I helped you."

I glared at him, debating. "Break the carrot fingers in half and cut the peaches in half and I'll let you feed me." He did as I requested, wrapped his arm around me and held the sandwich up to me again. I sighed and then took a bite. He smiled as I gave in.

Emmett snickered at me getting a huge amount of amusement from my embarrassment. "Rose, smack him please." She looked at Emmett and smacked him hard along side of the head. As Edward fed me lunch I worked on my homework with Alice writing down what I wanted.

Alice did like the others and walked with me to class like usual, and she lead me to gym. I showed the girl's teacher my note from Carlisle, but she said that I could still participate since we were only line dancing and told me to change. After I changed with help from Alice and Rosalie I put my sweater back on over my uniform. I came out and tried to hide in Edward's side. I hope people don't notice the bandages on my legs covering the stitches.

"Alright get into four lines, alternating between boys and girls." the boy's teacher said. The Cullen's and I formed one line in the order of Emmett, Rosalie, Edward, me, Jasper, then Alice.

"We'll be reviewing what we did at the end of last week." the female teacher said. She was going to continue but she stopped when she saw me. "Carrie, take off that sweater, it's not part of the uniform."

"But I'm cold," I said hoping that that excuse will work. It didn't, just my luck.

"You'll get warm while dancing, now take it off." she demanded.

I sighed and hung my head in defeat. I struggled to get my arm out of my sleeve, and after a while I got it out and got my sweater up to my shoulders and was able to pull it over my head. I heard the gasps as my sweater dropped to the floor. My bandaged and bruised self was exposed for all to see. After a while I got tired of them staring at me, so I cocked a hip out and placed my hand on said hip (as best as I could with the cast.) "What are you staring at," I said in an aggravated tone of voice.

That snapped them out of it, and the rest of the class went on as normal. When it came time to change Alice and Rosalie helped me. I left my hood down for everyone will know of it by tomorrow anyways. Outside of the gym we met up with the others. I looked at Edward and said, "I want to go home." He nodded and we stopped by my locker to grab the jacket he had given me this morning.

When we got out to the parking lot Rosalie's car was already gone. Edward put my bag in the back and opened my door for me. I got in, then he did, and he pulled out of the parking lot and took off down the road. After a while I realized that we were still driving I asked, "Edward, where are we going?"

"I want to show you something," he replied. "I want to show you my favorite place."

He was silent after that, I simply watched as the landscape blurred by.

Eventually we came to a stop at the edge of a forest on a rarely used road. Edward came around and opened my door and gave me his hand to help me out. I took a look around to observe where we were. I turned back to Edward to find him watching me with a small smile on his face; I smiled back.

"Do you trust me?" he asked as he held his hand out toward me.

"Of course I do." I answered softly as I placed my hand in his. The next thing I know I was in Edward's arms and the scenery was once again a blur. A laughed escaped me as we traveled quickly through the forest. Edward hearing my laugh ran faster and added some jumps which caused more laughter from me. My ribs hurt a little bit but I didn't stop.

All too soon he slowed to a stop and set me down on my feet. "Enjoy yourself?" Edward asked. My response was a bigger smile and a yes. I stepped away from him and looked around where we were.

We were in a clearing that had a border of trees. The field itself was filled with flowers. It was so beautiful that I thought that it couldn't possibly be real. I could see a waterfall in the short distance. "Edward. Where are we? It is so beautiful, so breath taking and peaceful and calming. I don't think I can even adequately describe it," I said in awe as I took it all in. (It's different from the clearing he and Bella were in; she was never here.)

"It's my secret place. I came here to relax, to get away from it all. I want to share it with you," he said watching my reaction to his surprise.

"Oh I love it Edward," I said taking another look around. I felt Edward come up behind me and wrap his arms around me. I leaned into him and placed my arm on top of his.

After a while he turned me around so that I was facing him; I wound my arm around his torso. I felt as he took my hair out of the braid and run his fingers through it. I leaned into his touch. I looked up into his face and saw an expression that I haven't seen before. His face looked so soft and his eyes appeared as if they contained dancing flames. He looked marvelous. He had his left hand on my waist and the right was buried in my hair. I brought my right hand up hesitantly and stroked his cheek with my bandage free thumb. He seemed to lean into my caress also.

Ever so slowly his face came closer to mine and I found myself slowly standing on the

tips of my toes. Our forehead touched, eyes half closed, and then we slowly met each other in a soft kiss. When he pulled away I offered him a small, shy smile, which he returned with a larger smile. We leaned toward each other again as if we could not control it and we kissed again. We wrapped our arms tighter around each other as our kiss deepened. Everything about this, about him was perfect. And as strange as it sounds we seemed to fit together.

I don't know how long we made out for but we eventually broke apart, and Edward carried me back to the car after we enjoyed the clearing some more. On the way back home he held my hand and rubbed circles with his thumb across my skin. When we got home I ate the supper that Esme had made for me then Edward and I worked on our homework, or more like I did mine with him doing all the writing, in the living room. That night I fell asleep leaning against Edward's chest instead of pillows, with a smile on my face and feeling more complete and less empty. I felt like I had finally found my heart; my home.

WELL WHAT DO YOU THINK? TOUCHING? SWEET? CUTE? ADORABLE? WHAT? REVIEW OR I WON'T KNOW. REMEMBER EVERYONE AND ANYONE CAN REVIEW EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE AN ACCOUNT. WOW THIS IS THE LONGEST AMOUNT OF TIME BETWEEN UPDATES. THE LAST CHAPTER WAS POSTED ON LIKE THE SECOND OR THIRD OF AUGUST. I WAS THINKING OF POSTING THIS ON THE FIRST BECAUSE IM REALLY EAGER TO UPDATE AND SHARE MY RANDOMNESS WITH YOU BUT I DECIDED TO HOLD FIRM AND WAIT UNTIL I GOT MY REQUESTED AMOUNT OF REVIEWS which i didnt due to the fair and all. IT NEVER DAWNED ON ME UNTIL AS I WAS WRITING THIS an THAT I HAD A LITTLE BIT OF ALADDIN GOING ON CLOSE TO THE END OF THE CHAPTER. I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT IT WAS NOT DELIBERATE. ENOUGH BLABBING I GUESS SINCE YOU ARE PROBABLY SKIPPING THIS AN ANYWAYS LIKE ALL THE OTHERS.

OH YEAH ONE MORE THING I GOT A MESSAGE FROM SOMEONE WHO WAS CURIOUS ABOUT THE WHOLE SCHOOL LAY OUT THING AND THE OTHERS SCHEDUALES. IM NOT SURE HOW IT WAS IN THE BOOKS BUT THIS IS HOW I HAVE IT. ONE BUILDING, THE LARGEST ONE IS DEVOTED TO THE LOCKERS. CARRIE'S FIRST TWO CLASSES, ENGLISH AND LATIN ARE IN THE SAME BUILDING. ALL OF THE LANGUAGES, SCIENCE MATH AND SO FORTH HAVE THERE OWN BUILDING. CHEM/PHYSICS AND BIO SAME BUILDING. CAFETERIA SEPERATE AND GYM SEPERATE.

LETS SEE SCHEDUALES. EMMETT: FIRST CLASS IS IN THE BUILDING NEXT DOOR, LETS SAY HISTORY OF SOME SORT, SECOND LATIN, THIRD MATH, FOURTH ENGLISH , FIFTH LUNCH, SIXTH SPANISH, THEN GYM AND FREE.

EDWARD: FIRST MATH, SECOND HISTORY, THIRD COMPUTER, FORTH BIO, FIFTH LUNCH, SIXTH ENGLISH, GYM THEN FREE

ALICE: FIRST SCIENCE, SECOND FASHION DESIGN, THIRD HISTORY/RENNASANCE STUDIES, FOURTH ARABIC, FIFTH LUNCH, SIXTH MATH, THEN GYM AND FREE

ROSALIE - FIRST FRENCH, SECOND WEB PROGRAMMING, THIRD SCIENCE, FOURTH MATH, FIFTH LUCH SIXTH HISTORY THEN GYM THEN FREE

JASPER: HISTORY, MATH, SPANISH, COMPUTER, LUNCH, ENGLISH, GYM, FREE

****

COULD BE WHAT EVER TOTAL GUESS WORK MY ONLY REQUIREMENT IS THAT THEY AREN'T IN THE SAME BUILDING AS CARRIE UNTIL THEY HAVE A CLASS WITH HER THERE AND NONE OF THE VAMPS HAVE A CLASS TOGETHER BEFORE

**LUNCH**

POLL(S)

IT BEGINS - 8

DARKEST DAYS - 9

OKAY REMEMBER I SAID FOUR NAMES

NAMES IVE COME UP WITH

JASMINE

WESTON

SASHA

ROBERT

REMEMBER 4 NAMES, 2 BOYS, 2 GIRLS

JOUNIOR

RENEE

JACKSON

ASHLEY

REMEMBER 4 NAMES, 2 BOYS, 2 GIRLS SUGGEST A NAME THAT YOU LIKE AND IT WILL GO UP FOR A POLL, OR I'LL STICK WITH THE NAMES I HAVE CHOSEN (THE FIRST FOUR) AND THERE WON'T BE A POLL AT ALL


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING: RHI17, RANDOMGIRL110, CHIKA1345.

Chapter 14 Getting Closer

A couple of weeks later

It has been a little while since I started staying with the Cullen's and it has been some of the best times of my life. I finally feel wanted and loved. I feel as though I finally have the family that I have always wanted. I feel as though I finally have a loving mother and father, and watchful older siblings; and maybe even my other half. Edward. For once I feel like a human and not an abomination. For once in my life I believe that there is a thing called happiness.

Edward and I have been growing closer to each other since that day in the clearing. He really helped me get through everything. The next day at school the only time that he was gone from my side was when we were in separate classes. On the way into school he had his arm around me and he was sending glares to all of the people who were staring at me or more like the bruises on my face, for I had left my hood down since people saw it already. I could have sworn that I heard him, and the others, growl or hiss at the staring people.

Today Edward was taking me to see Carlisle at the hospital for a checkup. It was to see when my casts would roughly need to be changed, and to see if everything was healing nicely. Edward and I were waiting in an exam room for Carlisle to show up, the nurse had already removed the bandages that were covering up my cuts which have healed by now, after bringing me back from having x-rays done.

"Well Carrie, you seem to heal quite nicely, and faster than anticipated. These films show months of healing in a short amount of time," Carlisle said as he came into the room, film in hand.

"I have noticed that I do heal rather quickly." I said my legs hanging off of the hospital bed in the room I was placed.

"By the looks of these films, you'll be out of all of the casts by Thanksgiving. We'll just put fresh casts and wraps on then you and Edward can go home." Carlisle informed me placing the film down on a table that was in the room.

"Oh goodie, that means I can feed myself again," I said while sending a mock glare at Edward.

"But I'm sure that Esme and the others are going to miss it," Edward said with a crooked grin.

"They should just take a picture, it lasts longer," I said before I could stop myself.

"I'll tell Esme you said that," Edward said. I crossed my arms the best that I could out of embarrassment, still being careful of my arms and hands. Edward smirked at his victory, and Carlisle just smiled at our banter.

"You two can continue this after I put on new casts," Carlisle said. With that Carlisle put a new cast on my arm and fingers and I was given a new brace to wear for my ribs.

When we got home Esme immediately came to us asking how everything went. I told her everything was fine, going better than planned, and that I could have all of my casts off by Thanksgiving. She was ecstatic when she heard the news.

"That means you can come with us," she said her tone pleased.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked puzzled and curious as to what she meant.

"Well, as you know whenever it is sunny we always use camping as an excuse. We figured that this Thanksgiving, we would actually go camping. If you were going to be healed by then we were going to bring you with us." Esme stated a smile growing on her face as she spoke.

"What if I wasn't healed by then, what were you going to do, drop me off at my place?" I asked a little nervous and slightly scarred at the thought of going back especially with them gone.

"No. We would have allowed you to stay here either by yourself, but most likely with someone who wanted to stay with you or canceled the trip completely. We wouldn't want you harming yourself further if you were out there with us." Esme explained. By now we were in the living room with everyone else. I took a seat next to Emmett with Edward sitting at my feet with his back against my legs. I was running my fingers through his hair, a new habit I have. Before I ran my fingers through my own hair, now when we were relaxing, I run my fingers through his.

"Now I get to see how rusty my hunting skills have become," I said in a thoughtful tone. I would have put my hands in my pockets if I was able to. It has been a long time since I was able to hunt.

"Hunting," Rosalie asked a little surprised and curious.

"Yes hunting. You didn't think that I got all of my food out of the garbage did you?" I asked. She looked away slightly embarrassed as she sat on the arm rest next to Emmett.

I chuckled, "Believe it or not, not all of my food came from the garbage. When I had time or was in a suitable place I would hunt and fish. I would also dig around for roots and look for edible plants and flowers."

"How would you do that?" Edward asks leaning his head back to look at me. No doubt wondering how I am able to take down an animal, and fish without a rod.

I leaned forward so that he could see me better and placed my hands on both sides of his head/face. "You'll just have to wait and see I guess." I said placing a kiss on his forehead. We have been showing each other more affection lately. Emmett and Alice were still sort of laugh at us. I just stuck my tongue out at Emmett.

"What have I told you about that?" Edward said his voice so sinful and husky that my breath hitched and heart began to speed in excitement.

"But you won't do anything." I said completely sure of myself in tone at the very least. The next thing I know Edward was up and right in front of me, leaning over me with both of his arms next to my sides and his face inches away from mine.

"You want to bet," he said his eyes smoldering. I could feel my face heat up from the roots of my hair to the base of my neck and I quickly turned my head away from him and close my eyes. He pulled away and chuckled at my reaction. He then picked me up, sat down where I just was and placed me on his lap. Edward seems to have this strange fascination with my blush I was sure of it!

I was sitting so that he had his right arm around me and my left side was against the back of the sofa and I was facing him. My legs were draped over his lap with my feet pointing toward Emmett.

"I think you do this to me on purpose to see what my reaction would be. Also, you do realize that someday I just may challenge you on that," I said giving him a long calculated look.

"That will be the day," he said with a chuckle.

"Come on let's go and get some supplies for the weekend," Esme said with a kind of lets go clap of her hands and a small laugh. I can tell that she loves to watch our interactions with each other.

Monday night before break

Edward and I were in the kitchen, working on my idea for our 3D representation of our cell project. I thought that it would be fun if we made giant cookies and decorate them to look like cells; one for animal cells, one for plant cells.

"Why are we doing this again," Edward asked looking to me from his place in the kitchen, next to the stove.

"Because it will be fun and afterwards we, I mean I, can eat it. And it's edible art," I replied with a chipper tone of voice that reminded me of Alice.

"You're weird," he told me with faux exasperation.

"You're just figuring that out," I replied in disbelief. We were the only ones in the kitchen. Carlisle was at work, the girls were in Alice's room, Esme was reading in the living room, and the boys were out in the forest.

"Ok, we need to add eggs, oil and milk to the mixes, and coat the pans in flour so that the cookies do not stick," I said. It felt good to finally be able to do something. Yesterday Carlisle took the rest of my bandages off and I was back to almost one hundred percent. I was still a little sore but I was healed. I just had to make sure to not over do it.

Everyone is still surprised at how quickly I heal 'for a human' that is. Carlisle theorizes

that my body has adapted to heal quickly to ensure my survival. This would explain all that I had survived before I meet them.

"You do know that Esme could do this, she enjoys this kind of thing," Edward said to me grabbing the eggs from the fridge.

"Shut up and get cracking with those eggs," I said. I turned to face the island in the middle and took the flour and the pans to coat them. As I was working on the second pan I felt something plop on to my head and then I felt this goop/slime slide down my head. I reached my hand up and grabbed the offending substance.

It was egg. First I was like gross then it dawned on me, egg. Edward had the eggs. Edward egged me! I turned around and Edward had his back to me. He was putting in the required ingredients into the mixes and stirring. Looking as innocent as possible as he did so. '_Innocent my butt_,' I thought with a snort.

I turned back around, making sure that my thoughts were all complaining about the egg in my hair. I grabbed a handful of flour, turned to face him again and tossed it at him. I watched as the flour it him in the back of the neck and I turned around to appear innocent. I waited and nothing happened. I heard Edward with the mixer going then the sink turned on. Then I felt myself getting drenched.

I turned around trying to block the water that was coming at me. Edward had the sink sprayer and it was pointed at me.

"Edward," I shouted shocked.

He stopped spraying me. "What," he said his head tilted curiously, innocently as if he was not just spraying me only seconds before. I just grabbed more flour and was flinging it at him. He laughed and started to spray me with water again. I reached for the sprayer and tried to wrestle it from him. We were both laughing and getting soaked.

"What is going on in here," I heard a woman's voice shout. We both stopped what we were doing to see Esme standing in the entrance way of the kitchen with a slight frown on her face and hands on her hips.

I took that moment to look around at the mess we made. There was flour and water everywhere in the area that we were at. I still had egg in my hair, Edward had flour in his, and we were both soaked from our water fight.

I was looking at my feet in guilt when I saw a flash and heard a click. I looked up and standing beside Esme was Alice with a camera and a grin on her face.

"Alice," I pouted. Then I saw white. I blinked my eyes to clear my vision. I looked up to see Alice, Esme and now Rosalie trying to hide their laughter. Alice took another picture. I reached up and my hand came in contact with something powdery. I looked behind me and saw Edward with flour covered hands standing behind me.

I turned fully toward him with a mischievous smirk spreading across my face. "Now Edward why would you do that with Esme right there," I asked.

"You had your guard down," he replied as if it should be obvious as to why.

"Well I still want an apology," I said. I turned my face and pointed to my cheek.

"Fine," he said with a sigh.

He leaned down and closed his eyes and he went to kiss my cheek. I saw this as my opportunity. I took the egg that I snagged during our scuffle, and broke it over his head. I took my hands and worked it into his hair. Edward pulled away with a shocked look on his face. "You had your guard down," repeating his earlier words to him. I pulled away and started laughing. I heard the others laughing in the back ground.

I watched as Esme, Alice and Rosalie laughed a bit louder and Alice was taking more pictures. Emmett and Jasper came in then. "What's so funny," Emmett asked as he looked between us. Jasper was just calmly assessing the situation as always, but I could see a glint in his eyes as he took in the sight of us in the kitchen. Rosalie just pointed toward us. The both of them took in our appearance more closely and Alice explained what happened. They were soon clutching their sides from laughing so hard.

"Get this cleaned up, and back to work, then you can get yourselves cleaned up," Esme said as she and the others left. I turned toward Edward and saw that he had a frown on his face.

"Oh I'm sorry Edward, but you were asking for it," I said. He still looked slightly upset so I walked toward him and reached my arms up to place my hands on either side of his face. I slowly guided his head down to my level and kissed him fully upon the lips. It didn't take long for him to respond or for our kiss to heat up.

I heard a giggle and I pulled away. I turned toward the entrance to see Alice standing there with a camera in her hands. She turned and left us alone in the kitchen. It was then that I noticed that I was sitting on the counter top. I never noticed that Edward picked me up and placed me there.

He leaned in and placed a kiss on the side of my neck. I turned and gave him a quick kiss, "We have work to do Eddie." I said. We regretfully separated, I jumped off of the counter and we got to work.

We finished making the batter and making the shape that we wanted, and while they were baking we cleaned up our mess in the kitchen and ourselves. When the cookies were done, we decorated them to look more like cells, and we labeled each of the parts. We then put them into containers so that we could hand them in to class tomorrow.

Tuesday went on the same as always. The teacher was very impressed about our 3d representation of the cells. Wednesday went on much like it did on Halloween.

"Today is going to seem like forever," I said sighing exasperatingly.

"Why is that?" Edward asked curious. We were in his car on the way to school.

"Well just think about it. It's the last day before a five day weekend. We have the usual Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving, and then it's the weekend. We also have Monday off due to a teacher in service. Waiting for the day to end is going to make time seem like its dragging on forever. We'll be constantly checking to see what time it is. You know what I mean?" I asked turning my eyes to his beautiful face.

"No not really," he said scratching the side of his head with a look of confusion on his face. I just gave him a look of disbelief before smacking him in the chest with the back of my hand.

"Yes I just wanted to hear how you would explain it," Edward said. "It sort of fascinates me the way your mind works." By now we have arrived at the school. Edward parked between Rosalie's car (on the left) and Emmett's jeep (on the right). I got out and stood next to Emmett who was next to Jasper by his vehicle, and Edward stood with the girls who were by Rosalie's car.

"This weekend is going to be so much fun," Alice said gushing. It was pretty obvious that she was excited about it if her clasped hands, large smile and practically jumping in place were anything to go by. "We'll be hiking, fishing, and a whole bunch of other camping things such as sleeping out under the stars."

"That can be pretty cool." I said, "Especially when you are out in the middle of nowhere and the stars can clearly be seen. You can see a shooting star, or a meteor shower or other wonders of the universe."

"You sound like a nature lover," Rosalie said.

"I am and having to live and survive in it for as long as I remember I have also come to appreciate that which has sustained my life," I said. They became solemn when I said this. To lighten the mood I moved so that I was standing between Emmett and Jasper and I put an arm around their shoulders (as best as I was able considering the height difference).

"Cheer up you guys. I'm here now and that is all that matters."

"That's right," Emmett said placing his arm around my shoulder while Jasper placed his around my back and sending me a big smile. "Our family is even now; four girls and four guys. It's a plus that we can control ourselves around you also." He said in jokingly way.

"Let's go, we have a day where we are doing practically nothing. Then we are going to get started on our fun filled weekend." I said. As I said that we started to walk toward the school still in our little groups. And me, feeling like goofing off a little, wiggled out of their grasps and then quickly jumping up on Emmett's back. "Giddy up Teddy," I said.

"Teddy?" they all asked confused.

"Yes Teddy. Emm here reminds me of a bear, so I called him teddy." I replied smiling at the now proclaimed Teddy as he looked at me from over his shoulder.

"You do realize that people are staring right?" Edward asked his voice sounded slightly reproachful.

"People are always staring at us dear Edward. I feel like acting a little silly at the moment, so I am. Is it that you are just mad because I'm picking on Emmett and not you?" I asked eyeing him contemplatively with a small knowing smirk on my face.

"I think that it is cute," Alice said with a smile.

"Thank you Alice," I said sending her a smile and the others a wink. "I hope you don't

mind me doing this Rosalie."

"I think it's cute, but it would be cuter if you did that to Edward," she replied.

"Then I'll make sure to pounce on him sometime." I told them sending Edward a decidedly mischievous smile.

"Is that a promise?" Edward asked. I made a thinking face/pose then nodded with a grin on my face; he grinned back.

Emmett carried me all the way to my English class, earning a lot more stares and a shocked look from the teacher. In English we played a word game after handing in some papers.

In Latin, after handing in our Daimon translation we played non sequittor. (A game of words that is not sequential. Feel free to message me if you're still confused.) We played until it was just Emmett and I battling against each other. After about five minutes, he was able to trick me and won the game. While walking me to class Emmett kept teasing me about losing to him.

In chemistry, the teacher thought it was fun to have a movie day so he dug out all of his Bill Nye the science guy videos. During the theme song everyone, even Rosalie surprisingly, sang along.

Coming out of the classroom, Edward was there waiting as usual. He greeted me with a smile and a kiss. Even though it was a small kiss I still felt my toes curl. He had his arm around my shoulders and I had my arm around his waist. It was easier to do this than normal because we weren't carrying that much. I had my sketchbook and a couple of notebooks, and Edward had a book to read and a couple of notebooks also.

"Alright class settle down and take your seats," the biology teacher said. "I know you're all excited that you all have an extended holiday break coming, but today in this class we are going to do a small test." At this the other students started to moan and some voiced some complaints.

"Don't worry; it shouldn't be too hard, if you think like a proper biologist. As you all know, biology is the study of life, and there are many things that this includes. This test is to see how well you know each other; you are going to be tested to see how well you know your lab partner. Their likes and dislikes, favorite color, food, what they like to do, things like that.

"This should be easy considering that we live in a small town and everybody knows one another, but let's see how much you actually know. The team that gets the most of questions about each other right gets two movie tickets to this year's sold out it film."

This got people excited because there was a movie showing in Port Angeles that everyone wanted to see and therefore was constantly sold out and difficult to get tickets for. The teacher then handed out the papers. Edward, Bella and I got two sheets since there were three of us in our group. Afterwards we had to hand our sheets to our respective person for them to grade so the winners could be. In the end it was Edward and I who got the most right about each other. This of course didn't please Bella too well.

"That isn't right," she complained. "They are going out so of course they are going to know a lot about each other. It isn't fair that they have an unfair advantage compared to the rest of us."

"That isn't an excuse Bella." I said in the same voice that I used on her last month. "If I am not mistaken both you and Edward went out last year so you should know a lot about him and vice versa, but you barely got any of the questions right; he got quite a few questions about you right.

"If you're worried about the tickets, which your probably not, you can have mine. I don't like going to the movie theaters much. They tend to be crowded and I prefer to watch movies in the comfort of my own home." I turned away from her and busied myself with my sketch book.

I could practically feel the steam of anger rolling off of her from where I sat. "We hang around each other a lot." Edward addressed the teacher. "We haven't even been on a date, just to let you know."

"Well that settles that, and that does bring up a valid point Ms. Swan, your answers for Mr. Cullen shouldn't be counted because you did date him last year and the beginning of this year, so you have an unfair advantage as you said. Mr. Cullen did a very good job on both yours and Carrie's test, and only Carrie's will count since they haven't had a date yet. So Carrie and Edward win the prize. Do you want the tickets Edward?" the teacher asked. Edward shook his head no, so the teacher gave the tickets to the next people.

When the bell rang to dismiss us Edward held me tight to his side as we headed toward the cafeteria. When we arrived at the table, sensing that something was wrong, Jasper sent some calming influence our way and when I sat down Alice wrapped me in a hug. Edward left to get my lunch and Rosalie asked what happened.

When I told them what had occurred in our last class she had a look of outrage on her face, but she expressed how glad she was that I 'put Bella in her place'. Edward came back in the middle of my retelling. When he sat down he pulled me close to his side again and had me sitting so that I was, in a way, curled into him and my legs were draped over his. He held a Pb&J towards me but I just grabbed it from him and started to eat.

Alice spotted my sketch book and started to look through it after my Halloween costume drawings. "You should definitely be an artist Carrie, or take classes or something. These are really good, just probably take a class to clean it up and perfect it," Alice said.

"Right now it is more of a hobby. I'm not sure what I want to do with my life. I've always assumed that I'll be stuck taking care of Thom and Liz for the rest of my life, which is still most likely. Even if I did get away from them, I could never afford it. I'm also the type that wants to learn everything, or more than one thing. The things that I do want to learn I want every degree that I can get for it." I said.

"We could help pay for it," Edward suggested, the others agreeing.

"I couldn't have you do that, I'll feel bad enough about you making up the difference in my pay check for the last month, and for Alice standing in for me at the house. Besides only family should do that, and by family I mean being one of you, and I shouldn't be bitten unless I am dying, then the age should be decent. If I'm old or middle age then it is probably my time to die."

"If I die, I die and unable to fight it off any longer. It would be your groups decision if that should happen. If it was meant to be it will happen, that is my philosophy," I said. Toward the end my voice got quieter. I paused, my eyes clouding and going off into my own little world. I felt happiness around me and felt Edward tighten his arm around me. I sent a smile toward Jasper and gave Edward a small peck on the cheek and went back to eating my sandwich.

"I did mean what I said though," Alice said. "You even have a good imagination. I mean, look at this picture of Emmett." She turned the picture so that everyone could see it, and everyone, besides Emmett, burst out laughing.

In the picture I drew Emmett as if he was asleep. He was wearing wrinkled flannel pajamas, and a night cap which was beside his head. He was half on his side, half on his stomach. Blankets were in disarray, his legs tangled in them, one was hanging off the bed. His mouth was open and drool was dripping out of the corner of his mouth, partially across his cheek and then down his chin. His head was rest in on top of his left arm, which was half underneath a pillow, and his other arm was tightly holding a teddy bear to his chest.

"Awe, He looks so adorable," Rosalie said. "Are there any others?" Alice placed the book in the middle of the table so that everyone could see it.

The next one was of Edward. He was sitting at his piano, dressed up as a musician, but also looking a bit like a mad scientist with his crazy hair and somewhat tousled clothing. (Think of how the clothes just seem to pop off in the older cartoons.) He had a serious look of concentration on his face as he was playing the piano. The piano seemed to be falling apart with the intensity he seemed to be playing it.

The next one was of Esme, looking a bit like a fairy god mother, or the good witch from the Wizard of Oz (do not own). From her and her wand came love and caring and … cupcakes and sweets.

There were some pages that had vague sketches. "I was hoping to maybe try my hand at painting and making some of my drawings into portraits," I said. "I haven't tried that before, or any other materials."

"Still I'm going to get you for drawing me like that," Emmett said darkly.

"Not as long as Eddie protects me you won't," I said as I wrapped an arm around Edward and snuggled closer to his side.

"Don't be too sure about that, you just might deserve what he does to you," Edward replied looking at the drawing of Emmett.

"And I'll pretend that you didn't say that," I stated lifting my nose in the air in a snobby manner which had everyone laughing.

After lunch Alice and I walked to math while she was suggesting ideas that I could draw next. In math class we played math jeopardy, which was a review of everything we have learned during the year thus far and things we have learned in past years.

In gym class the teachers told us that we didn't have to change but we were still going to dance. "I want you to get into groups and you are going to choose a line dance to perform as a final grade. You can choose any line dance that we have done, but we want no more than six in a group. You'll have the next ten minutes to form your groups and decide what you are going to do," the teacher said.

As she said that I grabbed Alice and Rose by the arm and dragged them away from the boys with a quick no cheating to Edward.

"So what are we going to do ladies?" Rosalie asked. I took a piece of paper and a pen from my pocket and wrote down my idea:

'Sexy tractor but with extra heat'

(If you don't know what this is it's the dance to Kenny Chesney's song She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy).

I had a grin on my face and I watch as one slowly appeared on Rosalie's face and Alice's smile brightened. The teacher told us to take a seat on the bleachers and then assigned which order we were to go in. The boys, who formed their own group, were second to last and the girls and I were the last to go.

We watched as the other groups performed their dance. The boys performed the electric slide, even though they weren't really into it and were barley moving, they still looked graceful and perfect.

"Alright time for the second half of the Cullen bunch." the female teacher said. The girls and I took of the denim jackets we were wearing. We were all dressed sort of alike; denim jeans and jacket, a halter top, despite the time of year, and slightly heeled dress shoes. I pulled my hair up into a high pony tail as we walked down to our places on the floor. Rosalie put the music in the stereo and came over standing next to me on my left, Alice was on my right.

We had our backs to the class almost completely on the other side of the gym. As the music started we turned around and slowly and somewhat seductively walked to the center of the gym floor. When the lyrics started we began the dance. Instead of just moving our hips side to side, we did like a body roll and swayed our hips and body in a more seductive way. Our arms were moving around us; up, out, down, around, hands on hips. We made sure to look at 'our' guys occasionally as we danced.

As we finished, everyone was looking at us with looks of shock on their faces, and it was really quite. This made me really nervous and started to feel insecure and slightly embarrassed that I just did what I did. I wrapped my arms around myself and kind of hid behind Rosalie, not wanting to be looked at.

"Well, that was certainly interesting," the male teacher said. The girl's teacher cleared her throat, "I say that was a pass. You can talk for the rest of the class, just don't get too loud. We'll bring out some basketballs also."

We walked back to our seats; I didn't look up from the ground. I grabbed my jacket and put it on and took my hair down out of its tie then sat down with my knees up close to my chest. I felt a pair of arms come around me and a chest against my back and a head/face close to the left side of mine and a pair of lips lightly brushing against my ear.

"I thought that you looked absolutely divine out there," Edward softly said in my ear. "I hope you wouldn't mind doing that again when we get home. Maybe I could join you next time." I could feel a blush staining my cheeks and I playfully smacked his arm.

"You are bad, and perhaps a bad influence," I replied my heart beating at a crazy speed as I envisioned doing just that. If he does not stop with the innuendos I'm going to be permanently red.

"So are you," he said wrapping his strong arms around me.

"Maybe," I told him. The bell rang and before I could get up Edward took one arm and put it under my legs and picked me up bridle style, and carried me out of the gym. He set me down in the hall, but held on to my hand and walked me to my locker. I grabbed my coat out of my locker, which was one of Edward's, and left everything else except my sketch book. We then walked to Edward's locker where he dropped everything off and grabbed his jacket. He gave me a kiss on the cheek, grabbed my hand and walked out of the school.

The others were waiting by their respective vehicles. The guys were still staring at Rosalie and Alice as we approached them. "I'll tell you Carrie, I'm not sure yet whether or not your arrival as been heaven or hell for us," Emmett said.

"Gee thanks Emm. I just feel the love," I said with a mock pout and crossing my arms across my chest.

"You know we love you Carrie," Edward said as he came behind me and did as he did in gym after my dance and buried his face in the crook of my neck. The fact that Edward had just indirectly told me he loved me sent shivers of pleasure down my spine. Alice came up and enveloped me in a hug also, then Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper.

I could feel the stares from the students that were still there as we stood there in our group hug. "Everyone is staring at us, you do realize that don't you?" I asked my face exuberant. Everything about this family makes me happy.

"Last one home is a rotten egg," Emmett declared. The next thing I know I was in Edward's Volvo and Edward was starting it and putting it into gear. We were speeding down the road, trying to beat Rosalie and Emmett home.

We were weaving and speeding past each other to win the race. It was very close but the boys were concentrating on each other so much that Rosalie was able to slip past them and beat both of them home. Edward was a close second with Emmett coming in last.

"Ha, girls rule and boys drool!" I said as I got out of the Volvo. "It's kind of sad Emmett that you lost. I mean, Edward had me, a human, to move and he still beat you."

"And what was that about girls and boys? I thought that you were on my side," Edward said with a slight pout.

"I am on your side Eddie, but I've got to support my fellow women in certain matters, especially when we are proven superior as we are to men." I replied with a small smile on my face and pointing my right index finger up in the air to emphasize my point.

"That reminds me," Emmett said, crossing his arms across his chest with his right hand up to his chin. "Come here Carrie!" he shouted as he ran toward me. We both knew that he could easily catch me so he made sure to move at a 'human' speed. I let out a small squeak and ran toward the house.

The front door was unlocked so I got in easily. I dropped my bag and took off my coat as I was running. I ran to the living room, I glanced behind me and saw Emmett close behind; I let out a laugh as ran around a small table, toward the couch. As I approached the couch I leapt up on it, placed my foot on the back and jumped off and out. I took off toward the stairs; I could hear Emmett behind me as he landed from jumping over the couch.

"Get back here and accept your punishment," Emmett shouted as he continued to pursue me.

"You're going to have to catch me first Teddy," I shouted back. I was having trouble breathing and my heart was pounding, but I was having fun. I ran to the widow and hopped out onto the tree branch that ran along the house. I followed it to the kitchen and I jumped in through the window.

Esme and Carlisle were in there cooking. They turned and sent me a confused look. I ran around the island in the middle and headed toward the living room again.

"Hi mom, hi dad, can't talk right now," I said quickly. It didn't register what I said and I missed the looks of shock on their face. I saw Emmett coming toward me from the side and grab for me. I used my speed that I had and slid under a table. As soon as I cleared the table I got back up and ran toward the living room again. The others were sitting in the living room watching me with smiles on their face.

"Hi guys," I said while laughing and slightly panting from my exercise. Boy do I stink at running.

"You should give up," Rosalie said from where she was seated on the sofa looking at her nails.

"It's fun though," I shouted back weaving around the furniture, and Emmett, trying to be fair, went around also. Alice decided to by me some time by tripping Emmett and holding him down.

"Thanks Alice," I shouted as I was going up the stairs.

Eventually Emmett was freed and he had me cornered against the railing that overlooked the living room. "I've got you now princess," Emmett said as he advanced on me. He had his arms out slightly from his sides, knees slightly bent, a grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye. I noticed that he was no longer wearing his white sweater and was left with his black t-shirt and dark blue jeans.

"I still have one option left," I said as I grabbed hold of the rail and placed one foot on it. I had kicked off my shoes when I started running so I was left barefoot.

"You wouldn't dare," he said his face now looking nervous of my only option, yet slightly challenging. I got up on the rail the rest of the way so that I was precariously perched upon it in a crouch hanging on with my hands and balancing of the balls of my feet. I looked down and saw the others looking at me with slightly worried expressions. I sent them a reassuring smile. I turned back and Emmett was right there in my face, looking as if he was ready to grab me.

I sent him a smile then yelled, "Edward, catch!" and I jumped out and away, pushing off of the rail. I pulled my arms close and did a little spin so the landing would be better. As I expected I landed in Edward's arms.

"Don't do that," he berated me. "If my heart was still beating I would have had a heart attack. You scared me; you shouldn't do things like that." He placed me on my feet and was still looking at me disapprovingly. I stood on the tip of my toes and placed a kiss on his lips.

"I'm sorry," I apologized to him. A grin spread across his face. I was about to ask him what was up when I felt someone else grab me from behind.

"Thanks for stalling her for me Edward," Emmett said. I sent a glare Edward's way but he just leaned forward and pecked me on the lips. "Now that I have you I need to give you your punishment." He gave me an evil glare, brought a hand back, I couldn't help the small flinch and closing of my eyes as I saw this, and proceeded to tickle me.

I am a ticklish person so his attack was indeed torture. I curled up and tried to protect my sides but that didn't help at all. It also didn't help that I was ticklish practically everywhere. I eventually collapsed on the floor laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe and I was turning purple from the lack of air.

After what seemed like an eternity Emmett finally stopped his attack and pulled away, and my lungs were finally able to get the oxygen that they needed.

"What is going on out here," Esme said curiously watching our actions from the doorway leading to the dining room.

"Emmett didn't like a picture of him that Carrie drew," Alice said in a cheery way. She had taken her place next to Jasper on the sofa with her legs folded under her and arms folded on the back of it. Jasper who was wearing a grey sweater over a white dress shirt with black slacks and dress shoes had his right hand on her knee looking as calm as can be.

"What picture?" Carlisle asked confused as to what we were talking about. He was still dressed like he was this morning when he went to work.

"This picture," Rosalie said holding up my sketch book opened to the appropriate page.

"Rose!" Emmett shouted, getting up toward her reaching for the book. Rosalie however was already next to Esme and handing her the book. Emmett didn't dare try to get it from her, so he sat down on the sofa where she was just a short time ago with a huff.

"This is adorable, Carrie. I love it." she said looking down at me since I was still lying on the floor. "Carlisle, take a look at this." Esme said walking over to him.

Carlisle looked at the drawing and let out a small chuckle. "I take it that this is what she is being 'punished' for." We all nodded.

"I want a copy of it," Esme declared. She took the book back from Carlisle and looked through the rest of it. They both had comments on the picture of Edward and Esme loved the drawing of her. "Why don't you all go do something, I'll call when super is ready."

Since we didn't have any homework I was in my room just laying on my stomach, with my head at the foot of my bed, with headphones on listening to music. This weekend I wasn't going to worry as much because according to Alice, Thom and Liz left today and won't be back until after next weekend. The down side was that I had to start work again on Tuesday, and I decided to go back to my den after break. As much as I love it here I still feel obligated to my 'blood family'.

I felt my bed move and I looked to my right and saw Edward lying beside me on his side. I took off my head phones and turned so that I was facing him. "Hello Edward. Is there something that I can help you with?" He just reached over and brought me close to him, so I placed my head on his chest and he ran his fingers through my hair. I placed my arm around his torso, my hand resting over his nonbeating heart. I could feel the coolness of his body through his clothes but I still felt warm.

"Do you really want to go back to them despite all that they have done to you," he asked quietly almost as if he was afraid of my answer. I could tell he did not like the idea of me going back. I didn't either to be honest.

"Not really, but I still feel obligated to them. I would much rather stay here with the family of my heart and never return to them, but I feel as though I am letting them down. I know that they could care less, and I feel bad that Alice has to stand in my place and that you are making up the difference in my paycheck. What if they hit her, what would happen then, I can't let you get in trouble on my account." I said.

"You can stay here with us, we don't mind. With you here we know that you are safe, that you can't be hurt, and don't worry about the money, we have enough." he told me almost pleadingly.

I was about to say something more but Esme came in at that moment and told me that supper was ready. Edward helped me off of the bed and we went to the dining room hand in hand. Even though they don't eat they all sit at the table with me as I eat.

I gasped when I saw the table. Esme had prepared an entire Thanksgiving dinner. There was a turkey in the middle that looked absolutely perfect, like the ones on TV. There were also mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, stuffing, rolls, and a marble cake with vanilla frosting.

"So this is what you've been up to today, Esme" I said in slight awe at the sight. "You do know that it would take me a week or so eat all of this." I was beside myself with the meaning of this gesture. I knew this meal was solely for me because they did not eat.

"Well Carlisle and I thought that it would be a good idea to make you a proper Thanksgiving meal. It's been so long since any of us did a celebration like this for anything," she said glowing still from my calling her mother on reflex earlier.

Alice came skipping in with a smile on her face then saying, "I have good news, there is going to be a thunder storm on Monday." I heard cheers coming from the others as they came into the dining room.

"Yeah, it is about time for some baseball," Emmett cheered. I looked at Edward confused. He saw my look and let out a small chuckle.

"You'll find out then," he said. "Now come on, time for you to eat."

As we all sat in our seats and Esme fixed me up a plate. "Just to let you know, we have rented a cabin and the surrounding land for the weekend, we'll be back by Monday," Carlisle informed us as I sat at the table and began eating my feast.

"A cabin isn't exactly camping Carlisle," I said after I swallowed the food I had in my mouth so as to not to be rude and talk with my mouth full.

"Don't worry; we'll be out under the stars. The cabin was to ensure privacy," Carlisle replied with a small smile in my direction.

"When you get done eating I want you to pack and get to bed early tonight, we'll be leaving early tomorrow," Esme said to me. With that I enjoyed my first Thanksgiving meal and chatted with the family. After wards I packed my bags, took a shower and went to bed.

polls Darkest Days is still in the lead (9) with It Begins only one vote behind so keep voting. We are getting closer. And don't forget about the names or I'll stay with the ones that I have and you get no say in the matter. I've been told that I have great potential as I writer but I just need to be more discriptive of things. I'll try to keep this in mind as I do the final editing of my chapters (since I have it all written already). If I forget I will definately try to keep it in mind with my other fics. Currently I am worrking on ideas for a small four, possibly five part series and I'm trying to keep everything that everyone has told me about suggestions to make my writting better. Maybe when I post the next chapter I'll have something else up as well.

Valleygoat ^_^

I did get one letter saying that Carrie opened up to the Cullens too fast and the relationship is too quick. I tried to drag it out a bit longer but it just didn't sound right and the rest of the story would be completely different if not gone completely. If she resisted longer there wouldn't be a story.

sorry I took so long to update. I've been so busy plus I got really sick and had to go to the hospital for it. I was running a really high temp that hovered around 103*. It's going to take me a while to get back to one hundred to percent and i have to keep a closer eye on my health this winter or it could possibly lead to another trip to the hospital and I hate hospitals. Not as much as I hate dentists but enough to not like going/staying there.

p.s not counting this chapter the length of this fic thus far is 113 pages. yay go me ^_^


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

THANK YOU FOR REVIEWEING** RHI17, CHIKA1345.** IF ONLY I CAN GIVE YOU ONE OF THE BATCHES OF BROWNIES I MADE SO I GUESS VIRTUAL ONES WILL HAVE TO DO, OR HOW ABOUT A NARUTO PLUSHIE ^_^.

OKAY WHAT ELSE IS THERE. I THINK THAT I'LL BE UPDATING MY STORY EVERY COUPLE OF WEEKS. WITH SCHOOL AND EVERYTHING STARTING UP AND PEOPLE WORKING I NOTICED THAT THIS STORIES HITS HAVE SLOWED WAY DOWN AND THE NUMBER OF REVIEWS HAVE DWINDLED. HOWEVER THAT WILL NOT STOP ME FROM UPDATING THIS CHAPTER SINCE IT IS PRACTICALLY FINISHED. IT JUST NEEDS SOME REWRITTING AND POLISHING STUFF LIKE THAT. AFTER THIS ONE IS COMPLETELY POSTED I'LL PROBABLY POST SOME OTHER STUFF THAT I HAVE BEEN NEGLECTING. DEPENDS ON WHEN I WORK ON IT STUFF LIKE THAT. I FEEL LIKE SAYING STUFF TODAY. STUFF STUFF STUFF STUFF STUFF STUFF STUFF. OKAY ENOUGH OF THIS RANDOMNESS AND ON WITH THE STORY

Chapter 15 Camping Weekend Part 1

As promised, an hour before dawn Esme came in and woke me up. I got dressed and had a quick breakfast of Honey Nut Cheerios while the others finished packing the vehicles. Carlisle, Esme, and Rosalie were taking his vehicle, Emmett and Jasper were taking the jeep, and Edward, Alice and I were in Edward's Volvo. I was sitting in the back seat, behind Edward, with Alice instead of up front as usual.

"Why don't you try to get more sleep, Carrie; it's going to be a few hours until we get there," Alice said her bell like voice soothing. All of them have soothing voices but her smooth soft tone has a dream like quality to it that was more relaxing than the others. Edwards' voice though can be almost as relaxing as hers if not more at times.

I turned to look at her, taking my eyes off of the faint predawn light that I could see through the window despite the over cast. "That might be kind of difficult. Usually once I'm up, I'm up and I have a hard time going back to sleep," I told her before I yawned. I was so excited the night before that I had trouble falling asleep but eventually my exhaustion and the medicine that Carlisle had me finish taking due to my injuries pulled me into the sweet darkness.

"I'll make sure to help you go to sleep," she said confidently. She gently grasped my shoulders and pulled me toward her where I had no choice but to lie on my side with my head in her lap. Once I was settled she began to run fingers through my hair in a soothing way that she had often seen Esme do as she sat with me after I was injured. I heard barely hear her humming a soft tune. I just laid there enjoying her ministrations, and slowly without realizing it, I fell asleep, feeling like I was being comforted by an older sister.

I woke up a couple of hours later to someone lightly shaking my shoulder. "Rise and shine, princess," I heard a female voice call softly as the shaking continued. I looked up and after I managed to clear my vision and I saw Alice's face smiling down at my own.

"Now you're calling me princess. I thought that only Emmett called me that." I said sitting back up, straightening out my clothes and hair and rubbing the last bit of sleep from my eyes. I peered at the dashboard clock and noted that it was about eight o'clock in the morning.

"We'll be there in around fifteen minutes, half an hour if we go closer to the speed limit," Edward said looking at me through the rear view mirror. I looked out at the scenery and was shocked; it was absolutely stunning. It was like the clearing that Edward took me to, but on a much larger scale. It was tree filled and heavy with mist like town just missing the civilization; it was a wild beauty not a tame one.

"Wow, it's so beautiful," I said in a breathless voice as I continued to gaze out the window with my face as close to the glass as it could be without touching it. Despite the fast speed we were going the beauty of it was not lost on me. I took in as much as I could with wide eyes.

"Wait until you see the cabin. Apparently it has its own indoor pool and twelve person hot tub. It's on top or near the top of a mountain the overlooks a valley," Edward said. I could tell by his tone that he was somewhat amused at my reaction to what I was seeing.

"It sounds like home; too bad I don't have a swim suit, the hot tub sounds relaxing," I said still soaking in the scenery. It truly was beautiful.

"Who said you needed a swim suit," Edward asked with a wide smile on his face as he looked at me in the rear view mirror.

"You're not suggesting that I go naked," I questioned indignantly, my brow slightly quivering and the beginning of a blush dusting across my nose as I looked into the eyes of his reflection. I heard Alice let out a laugh at my reaction.

"And here I was hoping that we would match," Edward said with a slight whine/ pout in his voice.

A smirk appeared on my face. If it is innuendos he wants then innuendos he gets. I leaned forward so I could put my arms over the seat, around him with my head close to his, "Is that a promise," I asked softly and mischievously; my lips slightly brushing against the shell of his ear. He took an involuntary breath in and his whole form seemed to stiffen and I heard the steering wheel creak from his tightened grip. Alice burst out laughing and I joined her after placing a kiss on Edward's cheek and I sat back in my seat. '_Take that_," I thought with glee over my small victory. It's not very often that I can get a reaction from him or a noticeable one at least.

A short time later, as Edward had said, we pulled onto a tree lined path passing under an intricate arch and through an equally ornate gate. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that we were heading to Cullen Manor. The drive seemed a bit longer then the drive at the manor, and finally, as a tad more light streamed through the windows as we came out of the darkened drive. After my eyes adjusted I looked upon the cabin, if you could call it that, it was huge; it was even larger than the manor, probably at least twice its size. It resembled a log cabin, but was practically a mansion. There were lush gardens with statues, and I even spotted a couple of fountains.

We came to a stop in front of the building and got out. "Nice place isn't it," Carlisle said as we all got out of our respective vehicles. I could only nod my agreement for I was still in shock at the sight. The others didn't seem to give it a second look; they are probably use to grand settings such as this. I'm not considering I've been next to homeless my entire life. "Well what are you waiting for go explore and choose what rooms you want, then come and unpack," he continued with amusement clear in his voice. The others took off in a blur and I was left standing there still slightly in shock as I took in my surroundings.

"You better get going before they take the good rooms," Esme said as she came up beside me. She had a wide smile on her face and happiness could clearly be seen sparkling in her eyes as she looked at me.

"I doubt it, this place is large and grand, all of the rooms are probably good," I told her as I tuned my attention from the environment to her. I gave her a hug after she gave me some more encouragement to get going and took my time walking up the steps into the house. I took my time walking through the house, taking in the décor with a slack jaw. I could occasionally hear the others goofing around, but I was just wandering around letting my feet be my guide.

I was walking through a quite wing of the building, when I had feeling that I should open the door to my right. I hesitantly walked to the door and grabbed hold of the handles to open the doors. When I did I gasped, the room was decorated like a garden. The walls were painted in a forest mural. There were flowers everywhere and a couple of potted trees. The bed blended in with everything and had a dark green canopy with flower stitching. The dark stained wood furniture stood out yet blended in nicely with the theme. There were two doors in the room; one was a walk in closet, the other led to a bathroom. The bathroom had a water theme. It contained a shower that mimicked a water fall, a whirlpool tub that had a glass ceiling above it, and my favorite - a hot tub. The hot tub already had water bubbling in it, and it looked like a hot spring. It was covered in rocks and flowers and had four 'stone' seats, one in each corner. I checked the temp of the water… nice and hot.

"So this is where you have disappeared to." I heard come from behind me. I turned around and saw Edward leaning against the door frame. He had his hands stuffed into the pockets of his dark jeans and the sleeves of his black shirt pushed back to his elbows. "I take it this is your room?" He had that crooked smile that I have come to adore on his face.

"Yeah, isn't it cool? It's so realistic and the fragrance of the flowers is so calming," I said the awe clear in my voice and a soft smile on my face as I took another deep breath, taking in the fragrance as I walked to stand in front of him.

"Well come on, we still have to unpack," Edward said as he grabbed my hand and we walked out of the room. I reached over with my right and gently grasped his arm and I leaned my head against his upper arm, since I only came up to about his shoulder. He placed his left hand on top of my right and leaned down to place a kiss on the crown of my head.

(He is like 6'2" at most and I'm only like 5'4" I am almost the shortest of the bunch. Only Alice is shorter then I am. She stands at no more than 4 feet 9 inches.)

We met up with the rest of the family in the atrium and we went out and brought the things in to be sorted. The bags were separated by who they belonged to and what was for camping. I grabbed my bags and carried them up to my room. It appeared that I was the only one who chose a room in this part of the house. At this thought I couldn't prevent the chill of loneliness that traveled down my spine. I quickly shook off the feeling knowing that it was irrational, placed my bags on the bed and started to unpack.

I was hanging up the last of my stuff in the closet when I turned around…and came face to face with a smiling Alice. I took a quick step back at her sudden appearance. "Gees Alice I swear that you try to make my heart leap out of my chest. I'm I going to have to go back on guard if this keeps up." I said as I lifted my hand to my franticly beating heart.

"You should always be on your guard, but it's so fun to scare you," Alice said in a sing song way and a small wink. (She is a tricky pixie that she is.)

"Okay you came here for a reason. What is it," I asked still a bit aggravated at her scaring me. She held a small bag toward me. I looked at it, then her and slowly grabbed the bag from her. I opened it and inside was a bathing suit. It was a one piece that had a skirt/dress part that covered it and came down to just past my wrists. It was black in color with a white orchid pattern. The straps were double spaghetti strap.

"Go on and try it on," Alice said as she pushed me toward the bathroom. I went into the bathroom to do as I was told. I came out a short time later and I had my arms covering myself because I felt uncomfortable with what I was wearing and how much of me that could be seen.

"What do you think?" she asks eagerly. She no doubt was the one who picked it out.

"It's cute, but I feel naked, and I really don't like showing this much skin especially my legs mainly because of how they look. That's were a lot of the discolored scars are," I said looking self consciously down at my legs wishing that I could hide them.

"I figured that you might be a little uncomfortable about that so I got you these," Alice said. She handed me another, smaller bag; in it were a pair of black women swim shorts. I went back to the bathroom to put them on.

"I feel more comfortable now, thanks Alice," I said the gratefulness and relief clear in my voice and face. They came down closer to my knees covering my upper legs.

"Great, come on," she said as she grabbed my hand and dragged me out of my room. It was then that I noticed what she was wearing. She was wearing a dark purple bikini with a black wrap tied around her waist. She dragged me into the kitchen where everyone else was gathered. They too were wearing swim wear. Carlisle had blue swim trunks with a white pull over shirt that was unbuttoned. Esme was wearing a red one piece with a matching wrap. Jasper had on green trunks with a black muscle tee. This is the first time that I have ever gotten a look at his numerous scars from back when he trained newborns. They sort of fascinated me but I made sure to not stare at them and make him uncomfortable like he and the others do with me and my scars. Rosalie was wearing a pale gold bikini with a white wrap. Edward was wearing black Hawaiian print shorts, no shirt. Emmett wasn't present in the room at the moment.

"You could have at least waited until I grabbed some cover," I said to Alice embarrassed as I saw how perfect their bodies looked in comparison to mine. Of course they would look perfect they are always perfect.

"Here Carrie, I got you a swim robe," Rosalie said with a small smile, handing me said article and I put it on giving her a relieved look as I took it from her. It was cream colored, light weight, slightly see through. It had long sleeves, a hood and it came down almost to my knees and buttoned down the front; I did up the middle three buttons.

Emmett came in then; he was wearing white trunks, but black underneath so they wouldn't be seen through that sat low on his hips. "Ok everything is all set and good to go," he said. I could tell that he was excited as well if the grin on his face, which enhanced his dimples, and the way he shifted his weight back and forth on the balls of his feet were anything to go by.

"Alright, that's our cue to begin our relaxation," Carlisle said as he escorted Esme out of the room, his right arm draped across her shoulders. Jasper and Alice walked out after them hand in hand, with Emmett and Rosalie right after them, their arms around each other.

"Looks like my lady is in need of another escort," Edward said to me, again bowing and offering his hand to me. I sent him a wide smile and took the offered hand and we followed after the others our arms linked at the elbows; his other land lying gently on top of mine. I sent him a smile while giving his arm a light squeeze as we went on our way following the others.

We walked through the halls and we came to a sun filled room. The Cullen's were sparkling like diamonds and I took in the room that we were in; it was apparently the pool room. The far wall was nothing but glass which looked out into a garden, which wasn't as lush as it used to be considering the time of year but still beautiful, and an outdoor pool. There was a high ceiling, which was also glass. In the room there was a large pool in the center. On one end there was a small water fall, next to it was a larger, higher one that looked like it might be a slide. On the other side there were other slides that came down from different levels. I traced their paths that were up above casting shadows on the ground below. There were a couple of diving boards also along one side.

"Last one in is a rotten egg," Emmett shouted. He and the others quickly headed toward the pool shedding any extra clothes along the way. I took off my cover in my own time, but instead of heading into the pool I headed into the stairs for the slides.

Edward's POV

So far Carrie seems to be taking everything in stride. That's what I like about her; she doesn't over react to anything. It also felt nice to not have to hide what I am, what we are. Before I thought that I was falling in love with her, but now I'm sure. She's not my special brand of heroine, but she still completes me, and I don't have to worry about hurting her. Besides, I don't think that I could hurt her as much as her own blood family has.

It's kind of strange how I have never once felt like I did not deserve her. That was a major strain on my past relationship with Bella. She had a good family that loved her and a bright future ahead of her. I hated the idea of taking her away from them, but with Carrie I liked the idea of taking her away from hers. I would like to do nothing better in fact. Her family miss treated so much that she was better off having a bunch of vampires as family.

I watched her reaction as she took in the pool area. Sunlight was streaming in so we were all sparkling. She seemed to look at us in wonder, but her surroundings once again grabbed her attention. I still find it a bit weird how when she notices something about us, takes note of it then moves on; she doesn't linger.

"Last one in is a rotten egg," Emmett shouted. We all eagerly hopped into the pool, even Carlisle and Esme jumped in. I can't remember the last time that we went swimming. We were all goofing off, having water fights. It felt nice to be in a pool again. The water moved along my marble skin, caressing it like a long lost lover.

Speaking of water fights I was reminded of the one that Carrie and I had the other day in the kitchen. That was also the first time that she instigated a kiss like the one that we had. I looked around for Carrie in the pool, thinking of splashing her, but I didn't see her.

"Where's Carrie," I asked.

The others stopped what they were doing and looked around. "Carrie," I called out a couple of times along with the others. I could hear the others start to worry at not seeing her. I tried to listen for her but I got a block. I heard a cheer come from above us and I saw something moving above us, and the sound was coming closer. I finally spotted her twelve feet above us.

"Look out below," she called out. She came off of the ledge that the water fall was coming off of. The way that the ledge was curved up, she was tossed into the air and flipped backwards, the dress/skirt of her swimsuit flying up revealing the white under suit. She continued the flip the whole way and tucked her limbs into a ball. "Cannon ball," she yelled. We moved so that she wouldn't land on top of any of us, and she landed with a slash that hit all of us.

She came up a short time later, slightly sputtering and coughing. She turned toward all of us and said with a wide smile on her face, "That was fun; you guys ought to try it." We all looked at her then each other, and then were scrambling to get out of the pool, to try out the slides. I made sure to grab Carrie so that she wouldn't be left behind. I ran up the stairs with her on my back.

"Which one did you do," I asked her looking around the platform area at the different options. Each slide was a different color; red, blue, green, yellow, light blue, purple, and each was set up in a different ways. The yellow ones for example were set up so that four people could go down like a race.

"The baby blue colored one," she replied. I walked over to that one, sat her down in the 'waiting area', and sat down behind her.

"Ready," I asked her and she nodded. I wrapped my arms around her and put my legs on both sides of hers. I let go briefly so that I could grasp the bars on either side of us so that I could push us off. When we were going over the edge I wrapped my arms around her again and leaned back so that I was lying down with her slightly on top of me.

I could hear and feel her laughter as we went down the slide; she let out a light cheer after a sharp turn. I watched carefully as we approached the end of the slide. When we got to the end and were thrown up into the air, I let go of Carrie and slightly tossed her some more into the air. She let out a small scream as I did so not expecting it. I landed feet first into the pool before she did. I came up and looked around for Carrie, I didn't see her and I started to get worried.

I was about to call out to her, when I felt a pair of hands on my head push me down in the water. I came up and faced my 'attacker' to see Carrie with a smile on her face. As retaliation I splashed her with water, which she sent right back at me. Thus began our second water fight. We were interrupted when some of the others splashed into the pool from the other slides. (The slides were set up so that they didn't all land on each other). We all went down the slides a few times. Carrie took turns coming down with each of us. We were just lounging around in the pool when Emmett got out and stepped up onto the low diving board.

"Attention one and all," he called out, "you are about to watch one of the most spectacular shows on Earth. You will see me perform death defying feats and you will be in awe of my skill." He struck a pose as he said the last part. His feet shoulder width apart, his right arm flexed with his fist by the back of his head which was facing his extended left arm that was pointing out and up, his palm flat and fingers out.

He was about to go on but Carrie interrupted him. "Just get on with it and stop stoking your ego," she said. Emmett pouted in her direction, but she just tried to splash from where she was at in the pool. Emmett moved so that the water wouldn't touch him. Carrie had a grin in her face when Emmett moved and I soon saw why. With Emmett moving he doesn't notice that the board moving as Alice crept up on him. As Emmett took his position to make his 'performance' and began to get the board to bounce, Alice pushed him off just as he was about to jump off. He landed in an undignified way in the water with a big splash.

Emmett came out sputtering to get the water out of his mouth. He glared toward us who were laughing at what happened. He looked up at Alice who was on the diving board. She just sent him a smirk as she did a slight bounce on the board. When she jumped off she did a double front flip and dove into the pool. We all took turns going off of the board. Carrie didn't jump off too many times for she said that she was slightly scared to do any tricks.

"Carrie, sweetie, it's time for lunch," Esme called out from next to the pool. I was having so much fun playing along and watching Carrie that I never noticed that she and Carlisle had left.

"Okay Esme," she called out as she swam to the ladder. She then got out the pool and dried off with a towel that Esme handed her. After she dried off, she put her robe on and walked with Esme to the dining room.

"Hey guys, look what I found," Emmett called out. We all got out of the pool to follow Emmett. He led us to a closet that had supplies in it, along what looked like pool gear. Floating things, fins, goggles, snorkels, and pool toys were in the small room. "Here's a net and beach balls. How about we set up the net and when Carrie gets back we can play a game" he suggested. We all agreed.

It took us a while but we were eventually able to get the net out, untangle it and set it up. We got finished just as Carrie, Esme and Carlisle came back into the room. "Looks like all of you were busy during lunch," Esme said.

"Yeah, Emmett found a bunch of pool things in a closet and this was in it. We set it up thinking that we could play a game," Jasper said.

"That sounds like a good idea, but we have to wait an hour, Remember, humans aren't supposed to swim at least an hour after eating to prevent cramps," Carlisle said in a slightly teasing, fatherly way. We looked away in embarrassment since we all kind of forgot about that.

I watched as Carrie walked over to one of the pool lounge chairs, take off her pool robe and lay down on it. She was laying there in the sun light as it washed over her, warming her body. I went over and lay down on the chair next to her; the others lay down in chairs also, enjoying the sun, not having to worry about how she would react to the sparkling. I watched as Carrie lightly dosed in her chair, a look of peace on her face. I watched as she lies there on her back, then as she turned to lie on her stomach. She turned her face so that she could look at me. She sent me a smile and held her right hand out toward me. I reached out with my left and took her hand into my own. She looked down at our connected hands and ran her thumb across my skin. She turned my hand this way and that as if she was studying the way my skin shimmered in the sunlight. I also find it amazing that I never once think myself to be a monster like I had when I was with Bella.

"What are you thinking about," I asked her in a quite tone. There was a sense of peacefulness in the air that I didn't want to break so I spoke softly.

She seemed to think about her answer before responding. "I'm just thinking about how my life as changed since I met you and your family. About how much happier I am and how the sun seems to sun more brightly now. I never dreamed that any of this would happen to me; I always thought that happiness was a fairy tale. I'm thinking about how I never want this to end and I'm wondering how long it will last, for nothing seems to last forever, especially in my life. I wonder if it will be here today and gone tomorrow. I keep asking myself if this is all a dream and if it is how I never want to wake up."

I turned so that I could face her and she did the same. I looked her in the eye and said with all honesty, "As long as I am here, I will make sure that there is always a smile on your face, I'll make sure that your days are filled with happiness and love. I will make sure that you have the fairytale happy ending and that the sun is always shinning for you. This I promise you." I sealed my promise with a kiss. I pulled her closer to me as I kissed her and had her right next to me as it continued. She finally pulled away so she could take a breath, and she looked at me with a smile on her face and stars in her eyes. She gave me another small peck on the lips before she moved so that she could lay her head on my chest and closed her eyes. I lay there and watched her as I slowly ran my hand across her arm. I watched in slight fascination as goose bumps appeared if caressed her skin a certain way. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warmth that I felt from her body and the sun.

I hear a click so I opened my eyes to see Alice standing across from us with a camera once again in her hands. I sent her a small glare but she just smile and took another picture before she left to go back to Jasper. I watched her for a little bit and listened to her thoughts. When I was sure that she wouldn't be moving anymore I lay my head back against the chair and settled down to wait for Carrie to wake.

After about an hour and a half Carrie started to stir from her nap. She brought her hand up while she lifted her head, rubbed the sleep from her eyes and took in her surroundings with blurry eyes. "Have a nice nap," I asked quietly so I wouldn't startle her.

She looked up at me and smiled. "With you here, of course." she said as she placed a small kiss under my chin. She looked around at the other family members. They were all lying in the beach chairs in the sunlight as if they were tanning.

'_Edward I have an idea_,' I heard in my mind after a short while. Both Carrie and I have been practicing on lifting the veil from her mind; so far we have discovered that she can communicate to me with her thoughts, sort of like the rest of my family, but she can still block me when she wanted to.

I sent her a questioning look as to question her for she can't hear my thoughts and I didn't want to tip off the rest of the family that something was up. She just got up from our seat and motioned for me to follow her, and I did. I followed her to the atrium that still held the camping gear. She went over to her pack and dug around in it. She eventually pulled out a bag that held…balloons?

Seeing my confused look Carrie just smirked in my direction before heading toward the kitchen. She grabbed an empty garbage can from under the sink and placed it next to her. Carrie then opened the package, turned on the sink and placed the nozzle of the balloon under the flow of water. I had to let out a small chuckle at that, water balloons, I think I know what she has planned.

I decided to help her out. When the balloons were a decent size I took it from her, tied it and then gently placed them in the garbage bin. The entire time I 'kept an eye' on the others. After we filled two bins full of balloons we slowly snuck into the pool room again. So far, so good, everyone was as we left them, still sort of bunched together but separated into the respective couples.

Carrie grabbed a couple of balloons and moved so that she had a better shot of Emmett and Rosalie, I moved to I could get Alice and Jasper. We looked at each other when we were in position and nodded. Carrie mouthed the count, one…two… three. After three we tossed our ammo. We watched as the balloons came closer to their targets.

Most of them hit. Emmett got his in the face, Rosalie and Jasper in the chest and Alice moved at the last moment. She must have seen it coming. They all jumped up in their seats when they were hit and Rosalie made a sound of indignation. Carrie hid behind a pile of chairs after she pulled the bin after her and grabbed more ammo. I did something similar; I grabbed the bin and moved to higher ground.

The others were looking around to see where the first balloons were coming from. Carlisle and Esme sat up in their seats to watch our battle. Carrie threw another balloon at Emmett when his back was to her and it hit him in the back, right between the shoulders. He turned around and spotted her behind the chairs. He grinned toward her and said, "Oh princess" teasingly.

Carrie had a look on her face like she was slightly worried but she still had a smile on her face. (^_^'). He quickly made his way toward Carrie, but again made sure that he moved at a humans pace to be fair. Carrie took the other balloon she had and threw it at him; only for Emmett to catch it. However, when he went to throw it back, it burst in his hands, just getting him wet.

As the others watched the interaction between Emmett and Carrie, I took advantage of the distraction to throw water balloons at them. I managed to hit Alice and Jasper, but Rosalie moved at the last minute to avoid it. That balloon hit Carlisle right in the chest. We all kind of stopped what we were doing to see what would happen.

Carlisle looked down at his wet chest and looked around at us where we had frozen. He then looked over at Esme. After sharing a look they both then disappeared. I looked around to see where they would reappear. They were thinking of something else so I didn't know what they were up to. I could neither hear them nor see through their eyes. I felt a pair of hands on my back as they shoved me into the pool below. I came up just to see Carlisle standing where I was just a moment ago with a water balloon in each hand and a smile on his face.

I hear a squeak and turn to see Carrie hunched and head wet. Esme was standing behind her looking as if she just dropped something on Carrie's head. Carrie looked peeved for a moment before she took the balloon that she was holding in her hands and chucked it behind her, hitting Esme in the leg.

That started the chaotic, everyone for themselves water fight between us. We were all throwing balloons at each other and some of us got pushed into the pool. It eventually ended when all of us ended up in the pool. "All that we were missing we the water guns," Carrie said, "but it would be best if we did that at another time."

"How about we play some volleyball now," Emmett said. "We've got the net all set up and I found some beach balls." We decided that that sounded like a good idea. The first game was guys against girls; we won by one point. Then the next game was Carlisle, Esme, Rose and Emmett against Alice, Jasper, Carrie and me; we won that one. The last game was girls against girls. In this game however, the girls sat on our shoulders. Carrie was on mine, and on our team was Rosalie on Emmett's shoulders. The other team was Alice on Jaspers and Esme sitting on Carlisle's shoulders. We lost that one, because Emmett would constantly trip me causing Carrie to fall into the water. She got back at him by trying to dunk him; it was difficult to do with Rosalie on his shoulders so it mainly became water fights.

After the game we slide down the slides as Esme and Carlisle left to fix Carrie some dinner. During our dinner we discussed our plans for the weekend. We decided to go out in the woods to camp Friday and Saturday night, come back to sleep in the cabin Sunday night and leave Monday before noon. We also decided to 'hunt' tomorrow night and to fish the next day; with hiking here and there. After dinner we lounged around the pool then Carrie got up and went into the large twelve person hot tub. We all decided to follow her example and got in and relaxed and talked. We were all enjoying the warmth of the water. We enjoyed it because we enjoyed the feel of warmth against our granite skin. I watched as Carrie's skin flushed from the heat of the pool. I eventually bought her over to me so that she wouldn't get too warm and she got sick. Even with the heat my body was still cool. (Hmm vampires in a hot tub hmm.)

As Carrie sat there in my lap and gave her shoulders, back and arms a message. I would have rubbed her legs but she stopped me with a slap to the hand and an "I don't think so." The others had a small chuckle at that. We just sat there relaxing in the hot water for a while. Someone would bring up something and that would start a small conversation. After a couple of hours Esme got out and retrieved a large fluffy towel and brought it back over. "Come on Carrie, you don't want to stay in there for too long, you might cook," she said jokingly. Carrie let out a small whine and an 'I don't want to', but she got out. Esme wrapped her up in the towel, so that she wouldn't get a chill.

We all got out also and went to our rooms to shower and change. I went into Carrie's room and found her sitting on her bed combing out her hair. She had a pout on her face and complained about how badly her hair was knotted. I just gave a small chuckle, took the comb from her hands, sat behind her and combed her hair out for her. Afterwards we were just lying on her bed talking when Carlisle came in and told Carrie to get some sleep. We got out off the bed, and I pulled the blankets down for her. She crawled in and I tucked her in. After giving her a goodnight kiss I turned her lights out, closed the door slightly and left.

I went in a few times during the night to check on her and to watch her sleep. Her curtains were open and her sleeping form was bathed in moonlight. I thought that she looked divine as she lay there with her hair fanned out around her on the pillow. She looked so peaceful.

Unwillingly I wonder how she could look so peaceful with the life she has lived. She has never known the love a parent, the kindness or gentleness of a touch. She has experienced pain that I have never felt in my hundred years. She probably has experienced pain that could rival the pain of my transformation. I think about how I want her to stay with me and my family so that she can never be hurt again. I also I feel respect for her on account that she hasn't run away from the pain, that she has stayed with Thom and Liz with the sense of loyalty that she feels to her 'family'. I leave before my thoughts get too dark and I lose my control and do something that I might regret.

WELL THERE YOU GO. WHAT DO YOU THINK. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME. FYI CAMPING TAKES FOUR CHAPTERS AND THE CHAPTER FOR THE POLL IS GETTING CLOSER, MAYBE SIX OR SO I FORGET BUT IT IS GETTING CLOSER.

SPEAKING OF POLLS DARKEST DAYS - 9 IT BEGINS - 8.

AS FOR THE NAMES NO ONE IS PARTICIPATING SO I AMGOING TO KEEP IT AS IT IS UNLESS YOU WANT ANOTHER POLL. AS ALWAYS I AM ALWAYS OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS FOR THIS FIC OR OTHERS

UNTIL NEXT TIME VALLEYGOAT ^_^


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

**THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING TRIFORCEANDSHIKAHARTS, AND CHIKA1345**

AND JUST A LITTLE FYI IF THESES NEST FEW CHAPTERS DON'T SEEM THE SAME IT MAINLY BEACUSE THEY ARE SORT OF LIKE FILLERS. I NEEDED A WAY TO GET FROM ONE POINT TO ANOTHER AND THIS IS THE ONLY THING THAT I COULD BARELY COME UP WITH. DON'T WORRY IT WILL GET A BIT BETTER OR CLOSER TO WHAT IS WAS BEFORE. WITH OUT FUTHER ADU

Chapter 16 weekend part 2

Carrie's POV

I start to stir as I feel light upon my eyes. I crack my eyes open just too quickly close them in pain. After a little while I open my eyes again, better prepared. I'm facing the window and the rising sun's rays were just starting to peek into my window, and right into my eyes. With a groan I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

I got out of bed and into the bathroom. I splashed water into my face and brushed my teeth. I got dressed into a pair of tan cargo pants, a green camouflage shirt and hiking boots. I did my hair up into high pigtails and place a tan camouflage bandana on my the shirt it said:

**L**OOK AT ME

N**O**W, HAVE

DREAM**S** ABOUT

M**E **

LATE**R**

The bold letters are red in color and the rest were black.

I figured that Rosalie or Alice would want to put make up on me later. I'm still not used to wearing it and it is slightly irritating. They tried to explain the whole concept to me, but I couldn't remember it and I didn't try that hard to remember it either. I didn't like make up that much; I was ok with eye shadow, cover-up and lip gloss but that was it. I grabbed a grey sweater and headed to the kitchen for some breakfast. Everyone was already sitting at the table and Esme was at the stove cooking. I still can't get over how it feels to finally have a family, a real true family. With people who care about me as a sister and daughter. Even more unbelievable is that someone cares for me like a girlfriend.

"Ah, Carrie, I was just about to send someone up to wake you," Carlisle said as he put down the paper that he was reading.

"Well I could just turn around and go back to bed so you can send someone after me," I replied with a small smile on my face. He chuckled at that suggestion.

"Well you're here now, so you might as well sit and stay," Emmett said. I just sent him a small glare as I sat down between Edward and Jasper and across from him. Alice was across from Edward and Rosalie across from Jasper. Carlisle was sitting on a stool next to a high counter, table top in the kitchen. They were all wearing clothes that if they got dirty it wouldn't matter very much; jeans, tennis shoes, t-shirts with a hoodie or sweatshirt.

Edward leaned over to give me a good morning kiss on the cheek, but I just happened to turn my head at that moment and he kissed me on the lips, resulting in a kiss that lasted longer than necessary.

"Knock it off you two, we don't need to see that," Emmett said, picking on us a lecherous grin spreading across his face as I turned my head to look at him.

"We didn't pick on you when you and Rose were like that," Esme said as she came in and placed breakfast in front of me. She fixed me a small farmer's omelet and hash browns. She came back in a short time later with salt, pepper and ketchup.

Breakfast was a silent affair; everyone seemed to be in their own little world. Edward was watching me eat, Jasper was reading a book, Rosalie was looking through a magazine, Emmett was playing on his game boy, Alice was looking through my sketch book again, Esme was doing dishes and Carlisle was looking through the newspaper. How the heck did he get a newspaper?

After I was done eating I took my dishes to the kitchen and cleaned off my plate in the sink. I went back up to my room to brush my teeth again and came back down a short time later. Alice was sitting in the living room with my sketch book in her hands.

"Aren't you tired of looking through that," I asked her. I plopped down on the sofa across from her.

She looked up and smiled. "I enjoy looking through your sketches, I feel as though I'm seeing another part of you." I just smiled back.

Carlisle came in a short time later, "There you are. Come on girls, we're getting ready to leave."

Alice and I got up and headed out to the atrium where everyone else was checking their bags. Alice handed me back my sketch book and I placed it back into my bag. Soon we were all ready to head out. We walked around the house to the woods out back; I had my sweater on to keep the chill off. Despite the time of year it was still somewhat warm, or as warm as it can be considering the area. We walked to the edge of the manicured lawn and followed a path into the woods.

Carlisle was in the lead, followed by Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice, me then

Edward. We followed the trail for around an hour until we came across a large clearing. There was a large fire pit in the center and a few hundred feet away was a lake. There was a dock that had a few boats tied up to it. There was also various other water craft on the shore.

We separated into groups to put up our tents, we had four all together. We had them to keep dry when it rains. So far the weather had been unusual lately; unusual on account of that it hasn't rained in a few days. If we did have to stay in the tents Alice and I were going to share a tent; Rosalie and Esme were going to share, Carlisle and Jasper, and Edward and Emmett. All of the tents looked like normal tents except Alice's and mine. Ours was a dark purple with outlines of pink flowers, the others were a tan color, just with different colored zippers (black, red and white).

After we set up camp we decided to explore around the area. We explored around the lake and some of the other clearings. Alice and I took a lot of pictures, something I found I enjoy doing. After we got done exploring we went hiking again. It was a quite affair, and I just took in the sights and enjoying the scenery. We eventually came upon an observation area that was on top of a mountainous hill. I stood open mouthed and slack jawed at the view. Before me was another treed filled valley, but there was a difference. Instead of an ocean of trees, there was a large lake. I could see other bodies of water in the distance. It was a view that I could never tire of seeing, and one that I preferred over skyscrapers.

"What do you think," Edward asked me after I took a few photographs.

I stood there for a moment before I responded. "Nature is like a woman. Nature like a woman will seduce you and draw you in with its sights." (Quote from West Wing season 3.)

I looked at the others to find them staring at me. "What," I asked. They just continued to stare at me. "It something that I've heard said before." They continued to stare. "Will you stop staring at me?" I yelled and then I turned around and crossed my arms in a huff. I went up the natural stairs leading up to a higher level to take more pictures. After I took some pictures, I took my bag off and pulled my sketch book out. I crawled up onto a large rock and began to sketch the view. After I got a rough idea with my pencils I took my colored pencils out and began to add color.

I did a couple of quick sketches of other views. I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist and a solid, well built chest against my back. I turned to see Edward looking over my shoulder at my sketch.

"You are quite good," he whispered in my ear his cool breath causing shivers of pleasure to skirt down my spine. I bit my lip embarrassed by his words but more so at my bodies reaction to him. I still can't get over how my body reacts just to his voice alone. Must be those damn vampire charms, or is it something more than that?

"It's decent, but I'm no pro," I replied nonchalantly. I pulled away enough so that I could turn and get another view. This view I could see a small town in the distance and heavy rain clouds. I thought that I heard some thunder and maybe saw some lightning. "Looks like a storm."

"It's not going to hit us; it's headed to the east." Edward said as he sat down Indian style on the rock and then pulled me into his lap. I leaned against his chest and pulled my legs up so that I could use them as a table. I sat there sketching the storm over the town. When I went to add color, Edward grabbed a colored pencil and helped me with it. He would occasionally steal a pencil from my hand and I would steal one from him.

Esme came up and hopped on to the rock we were sitting on as we finished our drawing. "So this is where you two disappeared to," she said. "What have you two been doing up here?"

"Drawing," I said as I held up my book. Sometimes I just feel like I'm a little girl trying to get her mother's attention and praise which Esme is never short of.

"That looks quite nice dears. Now come along, we still have a lot to see." After she said that she jumped off of the rock and headed down to the lower level. Edward let me up and I jumped down off of the rock, I had to roll a little bit due to the height. As I stood up straight Edward was standing there next to me. He grabbed my hand and we walked down to the others.

We climbed a couple of other mountains. I took more photos and did more drawings. By the time we got back to camp it was going on four o'clock.

"Those were some sights we saw, wasn't it," Carlisle asked. We all replied the affirmative; I added that I was eager to get the pictures developed.

"How about you show us your hunting technique that you promised to show us," Rosalie said from her position beside Emmett.

"It's not that interesting," I said. "Besides, it will probably take a while, to get ready and I still have to track some prey. I don't want to upset you with the smell of blood."

"Oh come on I want to see you in action. It will be like revealing another side of you to us," Alice said. She was sending me a pleading look that was hard to resist. I looked at the others and they were wearing their own pleading looks.

"You can't be this interested or curious." I said. They just continued to stare at me. "Fine, but what is it about you all staring at me today?" I stood up from where I was sitting on a log next to the fire pit and walked over to the trees.

Edward's POV

I watched as Carrie got up and walked toward the trees. She stood at the base of one as she looked up at the branches. She then took about ten steps back and then took off running toward the tree. I was about to stop her but when she came to the tree she used her speed and momentum to run up far enough to grab a branch. She then swung up onto the limb and climbed a bit higher. I heard some rustling and I heard something break. I rushed toward the tree but stopped just as a limb fell from above. Carrie jumped down a short time later and landed in a crouch.

She pulled the limb over to the fire pit and walked down toward the lake. She came back a short time later with two large stones that were slightly larger than my fists. She laid these down next to the limb and walked back toward the trees. I watched as she pulled a knife out of her pocket, hold it between her teeth, grab hold of the vines around the tree and climb up.

After she was about six feet up she took her knife and cut through a few vines. She then slid down the vine she was holding and cut the other at the bottom. She put the knife away, and pulled the vine away from the tree and dragged it over to her other stuff. She took off her sweater and took her shoes and socks off and set them next to or on her bag. I watched as she took her hair down out of her cute pigtails and pulled it into a low braid. She rolled her pant legs up to her knees and went over to the tree limb. We were all silent as we watched her work.

She took the limb, broke off the branches and tossed them into the fire pit. She took the larger branches and set them next to her. She then took the vines and cut and tore them into strands and set those on the other side of her.

She sat down on the ground with her legs straight out in front of her. She took a few strands of the vine tied the ends together then tied them around one of her big toes. She then started to braid them quickly. It looked as though she was making rope or twine. She was humming quietly as she did so. After she made the small strands she began to braid them together.

She made the 'rope' as I 'm calling it in a couple of thicknesses. She took the smaller of the limbs and placed it in front of her. She placed on of the larger ropes and placed it next to the limb. She took her knife out and made some marks on the limb. She set those two things aside and turned to the larger limb.

She stood up and grabbed one end and picked it up and looked down its length. She kept her eyes on one spot as she set it down, took her knife out and made a notch. She then appeared to take inventory of what she had and inspected some of the smaller branches again. The ones that she apparently didn't like were thrown into the fire pit. We were still watching her attentively, not making a sound. She has already been at it for about an hour; I was sort of surprised at how quickly she was working.

She then walked over to the rocks that she brought over from the pond. She sat down on her knees with the rocks before her. She picked up the larger rock an inspected it, set it down and did the same with the slightly smaller one. She seemed to think something over then picked up the smaller one. She placed the larger one so that it was straight in front of her. She grabbed the smaller one in both of her hands and held it slightly above her head. I heard her start to sing something under her breath, I couldn't tell what. I watched as the muscles in her back, arms, chest and shoulders tighten as she forcefully brought the smaller stone down on the larger one. Nothing happened, but she continued her singing and brought the stone up again, only to smash it down again.

I realized that the beat of the song was matched by her strokes. She must use it to keep tempo of her work. The stones began to crack and chips started to come off. She would stop every so often to inspect the chips or to turn the rocks. She seemed to be tiring, but she didn't stop, instead her strikes became harder.

After an half an hour, she stopped and looked up into the sky and then down to her watch. She grabbed several of the chips and pieces and brought them over to the wood pile. She took a few pieces and appeared to try and put some 'finishing touches' on them. They were starting to look like arrow heads or cave man tools; crude instruments. She sat the rocks aside and grabbed the large limb.

She took the larger of the stone blades and began to cut/ hack at where she made the marks and skinned the bark off of the limbs. She took the larger limb and made a notch on the end. She took one of the larger stone blades and jammed it into the end. She then took some of the rope that she made earlier and tied it together so now that it now resembled a spear.

She took the limb and rope from earlier and made what resembled a bow. She went over to her bag and pulled out one of her 'kits' that she always carried everywhere. She pulled out a scrap of fabric and unrolled it. Wrapped in the fabric were wild bird feathers. With that, the smaller, branches and rope she made arrows.

She got up and went over to the trees and cut off a couple of sections of bark. Carrie took the rope and made a quiver that she could sling over her shoulder. It took almost two and a half hours but she made her weapons. We were all silent still yet and Carrie seemed to be in her own little world; it reminded me a bit if how she acted when we first met. She walked over to a different area of the woods and spread some mud on her skin, and rolled a bit in the dirt. I thought that she looked kind of hot, like she was about to do battle.

She walked a short way into the woods and we silently followed. She stopped, closed her eyes and became perfectly still. It appeared as if she was listening to the forest, trying to feel something, searching the forest. She had her feet shoulder width apart, head slightly down cast. The spear was held in her right hand, and the bow in her left.

She then slowly started to move forward, her bare feet barely making a sound in the underbrush. She appeared to searching the ground for clues. After a short time, she knelt down to examine something on the ground. I came up beside her and knelt down to look at what she found.

"Deer tracks," she said barely above a whisper. The others came forward to hear what she had to say. She didn't seem to notice us.

"Small deer, not that old, most likely a doe, probably just out of its spots, Appears to be injured, left side, not sure which leg; probably abandoned due to it." She slowly crept forward, her eyes on the tracks.

"The tracks are recent, not even a half an hour." Carrie moved some foliage to the side and uncovered some scat. She took a nearby stick and examined the scat. "Deer scat." She held her left hand close over it after setting her bow down. "It's recent as well." She picked her bow up and followed the tracks.

She stopped to examine the surroundings; she appeared to be listening. I could hear and smell the deer close by, but I didn't say anything. I wanted to see what she would do. I turned to look at the rest of my family. They all looked at me and nodded; they wanted to see what she would do also.

Carrie knelt down and picked up some mostly dry dirt and observed it as it ran out of her cupped hand. She was determining what was down wind. It was pretty still, with just a light breeze. She moved slowly forward, I could tell that she was listening for any clues.

After a few moments she finally spotted the deer, and I watched as her muscles tensed and she hunched over lightly and got closer to the ground. We made sure that we didn't startle the deer either. I was surprised at what she deduced from the tracks earlier was right. The deer was a small doe, just coming out of her spots, and the left rear leg appeared to be either badly broken and is healing wrong, or was deformed at slowly stalked her prey. She moved along with it, while slowly moving closer, but making sure to stay down wind for it. She slowly moved the spear so that it would be ready to throw. Her muscles tensed even more, she was about to spring.

While the deer stopped to graze, Carrie threw the spear. No sooner than she threw it she had an arrow strung and she let it fly. She moved to the right quickly while stringing another arrow; she never removed her eyes from the deer. The spear struck the deer in the rib cage and the arrow in bedded itself about four inches to the left of the spear.

It took the deer a short time to start running after the projectiles struck. It let out a small whine as it began running. Carrie released another arrow and it struck the deer in the right shoulder, just shy of the neck. The deer ran next to a tree, the spear hit the tree and was knocked out. Carrie continued to close in on the deer; she was able to get somewhat ahead of it. She released another arrow and it struck the deer in the chest on the left side. I realized what Carrie was doing. She was striking the deer on different sides, attempting to herd it toward a thick cluster of trees. I could hear that the deer was having trouble breathing; the spear must have punctured its lung.

I watched as Carrie slung the bow around her and pulled her knife from her pocket. She was running faster toward the deer. She was still close to the ground, with the knife out to her side, away from her. She came up behind the deer, well within striking range. The deer must have sensed her for it started to veer to the right. Carrie however ran toward a nearby tree and ran up it slightly like she did before. After a couple of steps she pushed off, away from the tree towards the deer.

She turned so that she was facing the deer. She brought her legs up closer to her sides and brought her arms forward. She looked as if she was going to pounce on the deer. The deer saw her too late to maneuver out of the way, and Carrie landed on its back, knocking it to the ground.

Carrie fell to the ground and slid a couple of feet from the deer, but she was able to tackle it down to the ground before it could get away. Carrie straddled the animal and held it to the ground. She then took her knife and slashed its throat, ending its suffering.

It was then that Carrie seemed to realize how hard she was breathing, she was gasping for air. We all came forward and stood around her. Again she surprised me, for a moment there; especially when she pounced I thought that she was one of us, a vampire. Carlisle came forward and checked her pulse. Carrie seemed to realize then that she wasn't alone. "I'm fine Carlisle; I'm just not that good at running." She stood up and stepped away from the deer.

She turned toward Jasper and said, "Go ahead Jaz, take a drink, I can see how much it is bothering you. I'm going to go back and get my spear." With that she turned around and headed back to where her spear was knocked out of the deer. Jasper jumped on the deer and started sucking on its neck, drinking what was left of the blood.

Carrie came back a short time later, spear in hand. Jasper stepped away back toward Alice. Carrie kneeled next to the deer, took her knife and started to cut it. She took her bandana off and unfolded it. She turned back to the deer and started to cut meat from several places on the deer. She took meat from the flank and hindquarters, its side, shoulder and neck. After she had a nice pile, she wrapped the bandana around the meat and got up and started to walk away.

"That was kind of cool Carrie," Rosalie said.

"Yeah," Emmett agreed, "You looked kind of fierce and wild."

"I'm just glad to see that my skills haven't got too rusty," she replied. On the way back to camp Carrie would stop every so often and dig up some plants and roots. She would give a little explanation about what they were for, whether it is for food or seasoning or bathing. She gave stories about how she learned to recognize what she could eat and what she couldn't.

"First it was trial and error, and I'm surprised that I didn't die from some of the things that I ate. I was young, probably around six when we moved to a place where I had to really start hunting. I thought of going to a library to look at books on the plants and roots, but I had to teach myself to read first. I would dig magazines out of the trash and try to read them. I would watch TV and read the subtitles as it played. It took a while but I learned enough to be able to read and understand.

"The next problem was getting into the library. I wasn't allowed in because of my appearance. I was dirty, wearing only a real large T-shirt that hung off of one shoulder and I had to tie it up so that I wouldn't trip, an old pair of boxer shorts and flip flops. As soon as a librarian saw me she chased me out. I eventually found a way to sneak in through the roof. Long story short I finally got some info on what to watch out for and what was ok, but there was still a lot of trial and error."

As she finished saying this we arrived back at camp. She went over to her bag and set the meat next to the log. Carrie pulled some paper out of her bag along with a rock of some sort. She took the wood that was already in the pit and placed it in the center. She tore up the paper into strips and placed it under the wood. She pulled her knife out and ran it across the stone that she was holding. Sparks flew from the objects that I now realized was flint. The fire started to flare to life and she stepped out of the pit.

Carrie left and came back with a huge pile of wood which she placed close to the tents. She took some branches and brought them back to her spot by the fire. She took them and scrapped them with her knife until they looked like little pikes. She then took her meat and rubbed the crushed herbs on them, speared them on the sticks and placed them close to the fire to cook.

"I'm going to go take a bath," she said. She went to her bag and pulled out a towel and a change of clothes. She grabbed the herbs that she picked for washing and headed toward the lake.

"We could take you back to the house so you could use the shower," Esme said standing up.

"That's ok; I'm use to bathing in a pond, that's what I had to do before I met all of you. Just make sure that the meat doesn't burn," she said and turned away and walked toward the lake. Alice got up and followed after Carrie, to make sure that she would be alright.

"Is it me or does she seem a bit different, then this morning," Jasper said looking to each of his siblings and parents.

"She does seem to be more reclusive than she was this morning," Rosalie agreed wondering what had happened to make her revert back to how she acted when she first arrived in Forks.

"Is she alright," Esme asked looking toward Carlisle. She was worried that whatever happened had caused Carrie to lose the light that had grown in her eyes. From her thoughts I could tell that she was desperately hoping that the spark comes back for to her she didn't want her soul to match her battered body.

"I'm afraid to say that her hunting may have brought up some unwanted memories or something similar to that. Her body or subconscious may be remembering why she has had to hunt or placed her into the same frame of mind as before," he said.

"Will she come out of it," I asked worried. The last thing I wanted was for her to go back to the way that she was before.

"Maybe, it could be a slight relapse, but most likely for she's not experiencing anything traumatic," Carlisle said thoughtfully.

We just sat there for a while staring into the fire lost in our thoughts. I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard laughter coming from the lake. We all turned toward that direction and waited to see what would happen.

Carrie came running toward us with a smile on her face and laughing. She looked behind her and Alice was running toward her, "Get back here Carrie," she shouted. Carrie just ran toward us or more specifically me.

Carrie ran toward me and when she got close she slowed down enough so that she wouldn't run into me. She plopped down in my lap, facing me, legs around my waist and hands on my shoulders. I was sitting on the ground Indian style. I wonder if she realizes what sort of position she put herself in.

Alice came to a stop a few feet in front of me, hands on her hips and a wet spot on the front of her shirt and pants. Carrie leaned back and tilted her head back to see Alice. I had my hands on her waist to help hold her up along with the tightened grip of her legs around my waist and her hands on my shoulders. I felt a warm feeling flow through me as she did this and I tightened my grip on her just a bit more. "Safe zone," she told Alice.

"Esme is the true safe zone," Alice said before she reached down, picked Carrie up out of my lap, with a slight struggle, and placed her on the ground, then proceeded to tickle the day lights out of Carrie. She was rolling around on the ground, trying to protect her sides, laughing until her face was a bright red.

"Ok, ok I give, I surrender and apologize," Carrie said. Alice sent her grin and went over to sit next to Jasper.

"What was that about," Esme asked. She was holding a couple of combs and motioned for Carrie to sit in front of her. Carrie got up, walked over and plopped down in front of Esme who then started to comb out her hair.

"Well," Carrie started, "as you know Alice followed me down to the lake while I took my bath. We weren't really talking just enjoying the silence. While I was swimming around I found a fish that caught in some plants, so I grabbed it and freed it from its prison. Before I let it go I looked toward Alice and noticed that was leaning back and looking at the moon.

"I felt like being a little evil, so I kept hold of the fish and got out of the lake to dress and dry off. I then went back to the edge of the lake like I was going to brush my teeth, but I took the fish a put it back in the water still keeping a hold of it. I looked back toward Alice and she was still looking up at the moon.

"Therefore I took the fish and threw it at her. It hit her chest then fell into her lap where it flipped around. She finally threw it back into the lake but I already had my stuff and was running back by then and you know the rest."

"You're a little trouble maker," Rosalie said with a small smile. I had to agree with Rosalie on that. I was wondering though if Alice saw it coming. She could have, but she didn't do anything about it so I'm guessing not.

Carrie smiled toward her, grinned and flashed her a piece sign. "Would someone please sprinkle more herbs on the meat and start cooking some of the mushrooms and the roots next to it," she asked.

Jasper got up and speared the mushrooms and roots and Carlisle checked the meat. "The meat looks about done, Carrie," he said.

"Thanks Carlisle," she replied. "And thank you Jasper and sorry Alice about earlier."

"It's alright." Alice said. "I'm thinking about calling you Foxy, Vixen or something because you are as mischievous and meddlesome as a fox." Carrie just sent her a grin. I favored Vixen myself. I could already imagine her blushing each time I call her that. After Esme got done with her hair Carrie moved back over to her previous spot and checked the meat. Apparently it was to her liking for so moved it farther from the fire and began to eat. I watched as she ate, she just stared in the fire.

"Oh I know, lets tell ghost stories. Let's see which one of us can scare Carrie the most," Alice suggested with a smirk thinking it as some form of payback.

"Might as well follow up with us singing songs next," Rose said sarcastically.

"Oh great idea," Esme said with a smile.

"If we are going to do this, I say we do singing first that way I'll fall asleep during one of your non-scary stories," Carrie said.

"Well why don't you go first Carrie since you are the youngest out of all of us," Emmett said, slightly teasing her.

"I like to sing, but I'm not all that great. Besides I have another idea," Carrie said. She got up, got her knife out of her bag and headed toward the lake. We all looked at each other, wondering what she was up to. We shrugged and looked off in the direction that Carrie headed in.

OKAY SORRY AGAIN IF IT WASN'T ALL THAT GREAT. THESES NEST FEW CHAPTER ARE LIKE FILLERS AND I WANTED SOME INTERACTION BETWEEN THEM OUT OF SCHOOL AND THE MANOR. SORRY IF CARRIE SEEMS ABIT LIKE A MARY SUE BUT THIS IS ALL THAT I COULD COME UP WITH

POLLS

DARKEST DAYS 9

IT BEGINS 8

NAMES VOTED ON: WESTON, JACKSON, SASHA AND ASHLEY OTHER NAMES SUGGESTED IN EARLIER CHAPTERS


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

OKAY I APOLOGIZE AGAIN IF THIS CHAPTER ISN'T ALL THAT GREAT AND I AM SORRY OF CARRIE SEEMS LIKE A BIT OF A MARY SUE AGAIN, THIS IS A BIT LIKE A FILLER, AWAY TO GET FROM ONE POINT TO ANOTHER.

ANYWAYS ON TO BETTER NEWS, THIS FIC HAS RECIEVED 900 HITS! I'M SO EXCITED THAT SOME PEOPLE ARE SOMEWHAT INTERESTED IN MY STORY, THEY MAY NOT ACTUALLY VISIT, BUT IT IS STILL A HIT. ^_^

THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING: OCEANICEAGLE AND CHIKA1345

Ch 17 camping weekend part 3

Carrie's POV

I could tell that they were wondering what I was up to. They wanted to learn more about me, so I'm showing them more of what I can do. Even though my life may not have been the greatest, but I have learned to do some nice things. Things that people do not do any more or some simple things.

I headed to the lake to get some reed stalks; I can use them as pipes. Bamboo would probably be better, but reeds work also, you just have to know what you are doing. I found a cluster of reeds and I waded to them. I took my knife and cut several stalks of roughly the same sizes (widths). After gathering around twelve, I got out and headed back to camp humming a tune as I went.

Entering camp I headed over to my 'work area' and set the stalks down as I sat down. I took the reeds two at a time and hit them against the log like drum sticks. I was listening to the sound that they were making. I use this to determine what order they should roughly be put in. When I wasn't listening I was humming a song to pass the time.

After I got the stalks into an order that I liked, I took my knife and cut them at certain lengths. The length of the reeds got smaller as I went. After I got them cut I went over to the tree where I got the vines and cut another one off. I took that time to look at the sky to determine the time; I guessed that it must have been going on maybe eight o'clock. I didn't have my watch on so I wasn't sure. Time wasn't all that important at the moment anyways.

I used the vine to bind the reeds together in two groups of six, in a line. I then bound the two groups; one on top of each other with the longer ones on top. After the pieces were secure, I blew across each one to hear what it sounded like. I had to tune to the higher sounding ones because I can't re-grow what I have cut off instead of tuning down like you are supposed to do.

When I was somewhat satisfied, I began to play a random tune. I didn't really put any thought into it; I just played what I felt. After a few moments I thought that the sound was too bland so I took my knife and made some holes along the length of the reed. I made no more than four, in different places but within easy reach of my fingers. The ones in the back I only made one hole in each reed where I could reach with my thumb.

After finishing my tinkering I began to play again. It sounded a bit better with more notes available for me to play. Again I didn't play anything in particular, just what I felt. Satisfied with my work I took my reed instrument from my lips and looked at the others.

Again they were staring at me. "What," I asked them. I was confused as to why they were staring at me. Again for like the fourth time today.

"That was beautiful," Esme said. She got up, walked over to me and sat down next to me with her arms around me.

"It was nothing, just something that I learned to do to keep me occupied in my small amount of free time that I have. I haven't made one of these since I was like ten or so," I told her. It seems like such a long time ago now when in fact it was only 6 or 7 years ago.

"I still think that it is impressive. I'm not even sure if the Quileutes do that anymore if they still can," Rosalie said.

"Thanks Rosalie, but it's nowhere near what Edward could do with music. I've seen him play the piano and I don't think I could play like that even if I had like fifty years to do so," I said.

I handed Esme the reed instrument and went to my and Alice's tent to get my bed roll, pillow and blanket. I unrolled the bed roll on the ground where I sat and plopped down on it next to Esme.

Esme had handed the pipes to someone else and they were looking over it. Edward and Alice even had a go at playing it. I lay on my back as we talked watching the stars as we talked. Eventually we all kind of quieted down and watch the stars twinkle.

As we were watching the stars a shooting star passed over us. "Oh a shooting star; close your eyes and make a wish," Alice said excitedly while clasping her hands under her chin and closing her eyes, making her wish.

I closed my eyes and wished that the Cullen's will have a safe and pleasant future without any trouble. I also thanked the higher beings for what time they have allowed me to spend with them for it has been the happiest time of my life. I never wanted this time to end, but I didn't want to be selfish so I made a wish for others.

I know that deep down that I never want to leave them; I didn't want to leave my … family. They are very precious to me and I would do anything for them. I couldn't ask them to change me, so I was just thankful for what time I have had with them. If I could ask for anything I would ask for one more day, even though I'll probably ask for more.

I knew there was no use brooding over it so I just turned over on my left side, facing the fire, and went to sleep.

Edward's POV

I was transfixed as I heard the music that she was playing. It was dark now and the moon was just beginning to make its appearance above the trees. The music that she played was enchanting. It didn't seem to be planned and that is what made it even more magical. The simpleness of it was another thing that made it so nice also.

When she stopped playing I looked at the others and noticed that they too seemed to be transfixed at what they were hearing. I turned back to see to see Carrie using her knife to make holes in the reed. _Why would she do that? It sounds good as it is._

I was proven wrong as she brought the pipes back up to her lips. The music that she played was even more enchanting. The more notes added a bit more complexity but it still sounded so beautiful. I watched as Carrie played and the moons rays start to brush across her skin. Some strands of her hair were floating in the air, dancing with the wind.

She appeared to be a maiden of the earth, someone who was born from the ground; a creature created by nature herself, a child of the forest. I heard of these beings in stories that my mother used to tell me as a child. And now before me was one such creature.

When she finished, Esme went over to Carrie and pulled her into an embrace and she was complemented on her music. I had to agree with Rosalie about the werewolves might not being able to do what she did. There was no way that the flea bags could compete with a child of Nature.

Later that night when we were watching the stars and Alice told us to make a wish on the shooting stars I wished that Carrie would stay with us forever. It didn't matter if it was as a human or a vampire I wanted to be there to protect her for as long as I am able.

I heard what the others wished for; they like me wanted Carrie to be a member of our family. Alice was really looking for another sister, and Esme was hoping she would be her daughter and be my life companion. Carlisle and the others wished for her to be safe and hoped that she would maybe stay with us.

I was slightly surprised at what Carrie wished for. No one has ever wished something

good for us. I was also glad to hear that the time that she has spent with us has brought her happiness and I also wished for one more day with her and that I would also ask for more time.

I watched as Carrie fell asleep and didn't appear to notice that Esme was running her fingers through her hair. When I thought that she was deep asleep I spoke up, "She really is a selfless person." My voice was no louder than a whisper so I wouldn't disturb Carrie, but I knew they heard me.

"What do you mean by that Edward," Carlisle asked his voice just as low as mine.

"When she made her wish it was for us to have a safe future without any trouble. She thought that it would be a nice pay back for giving her the happiest times of her life. She also thought that she wouldn't mind staying with us for as long as she can. She would ask for one more day with her…family, but she would be content with what time she has been given," I said.

"I think that she should join the family. I wouldn't mind having her as a daughter, in fact I would love it," Esme said. Alice seconded that, the others appeared to agree as well.

"You know the rules, or at least my rules," Carlisle said. Yes I knew the rule well; no one will be changed unless they were on their death bed.

"Alice, what do you see for her," Jasper asked eyes softened as he looked at Alice.

Alice put her hand up along side of her head and concentrated. We were all quite while she worked. A little more than ten minutes later Alice came out of her trance and she had a blank look on her face which made me really uneasy.

"What was that?" I asked as I recalled the blurry images of her vision. They flew past as a speed in which I could not decipher all I could see was red, white and green blurs.

Alice seemed to shrink on herself and she cast a sad look toward the sleeping Carrie. "It's not good."

"What do you mean by that," Emmett asked before anyone else could. We were all worried at the forlorn look on her face.

"I saw her," she paused as if she was unwilling to continue. Jasper wrapped his right arm around her and pulled her close. "I saw … that she dies, but I was unable to see if she became one of us. She looked so terrible."

"Tell us what you saw," Carlisle said leaning forward giving Alice his all his attention.

"It was hard to see anything specific but I could see red. There was so much blood; the area around her was drenched in it. She…" Alice paused to compose herself. Carlisle came and sat on the other side of her, holding her hand.

"She was really thin. Her hair looked like it was cut off and she was chained up. I thought that she was dead until I saw slight movement. She was slowly pulling out of the shackles cutting herself up worse, but she barely bled." A broken sob made its way from her mouth as her hand smothered it.

"After she got out of her restraints she collapsed onto the ground. She slowly turned on to her stomach and managed to crawl away. After moving some distance she reached out and grabbed something out of the mud. I couldn't see what it was but she held it to her chest. She took a quick glance at it, laid her head on the ground, held the item tighter in her hand and to her chest and closed her eyes. It went dark after that," Alice said. She turned and curled up against Jasper.

"Could you tell where," Rosalie asked voicing the question all wanted to know the answer too.

"It most likely was around Forks. She was in a forest and there was snow on the ground and it was snowing," Alice replied. We were all silent for a while digesting what Alice had said.

Esme broke the silence, "Could you tell when?" Esme was worried for her newest daughter and disliked like the idea of losing her so soon after gaining her.

Alice took a deep breath before she answered, "It appeared to be within the next few months, if the snow and other things were anything to go by."

"We can prevent this couldn't we," I asked feeling my panic rise before a calm set it and I sent a grateful glance to Jasper. Now was not the time to panic we needed to figure out a way to stop Alice's vision. I was worried for I didn't want to lose her and Alice can't tell if she would become one of us. All she saw was Carrie's death, the blackness, but how that occurred isn't completely clear.

"You know that we can't interfere, or don't you remember the Bella incident," Rosalie said and even though her voice was missing the normal scorn reserved for Bella I had to ask.

"I thought that you liked Carrie," I asked looking at Rosalie with a frown.

"I do," she said, "I'm thinking about biting her now so that nothing does happen to her, but it will have to be her choice."

"She already told me that she wouldn't mind, but…" I paused before I continued. "She said that a condition for her change is that if she was dying and wouldn't be able to make it as a human." Though she won't be dying at this time she very well will be in the near future. Will that matter? Will it change her mind about being changed?

"We'll be here for her if something does happen. Now let us do some of our own hunting. We can go first while the girls stay here with Carrie," Carlisle said. We left to do our hunting and the girls stayed at camp.

When we returned, I took Esme's place next to Carrie. I ran my fingers through her hair and watched the flames' light dance across her face and the moonlight shine in her hair.

"You've fallen for her haven't you," Carlisle asked watching me with her.

"It's not the same as with Bella, but I still feel protective of her and I do feel strongly for her," I said. We were quiet when the girls came back and even after that. We were in our own little world, contemplating what has been said. I just promised to myself again to make Carrie happy.

The next morning

It was breaking dawn and we were getting ready to get started for the day. Esme had some pans out and was working on Carrie's breakfast. We have already changed our clothes and cleaned up for the day, the only thing that was left was to get Carrie up.

"Oh, oh, let me do it, can I do it," Emmett surprisingly requested. We were all sitting a bit distant from Carrie to give her some space. Emmett was given the go ahead.

I was wondering what he was up to, why would he be so eager to wake her up. Emmett grabbed a couple of bowls that Esme had brought along and took off toward the lake. He came back a short time later with the containers filled with water and stood by Carrie's head.

He then dumped the water right on her head. Carrie shot up sputtering with a couple of coughs. Emmett burst out laughing. Carrie slowly turned toward Emmett glaring, he just continued to laugh.

Carrie's POV

When I saw Emmett laughing at me and I noticed that he was standing near where my head was a short time again. I moved toward him to smack him for making me think that I was drowning, but he quickly dodged. I chased him around the camp for a short time. I could hear the others laughing at us. I jumped and landed on his back but he rolled before I could get my arms around his neck. I was able to land on my feet and I turned back towards him.

"Emmett! Why did you do that," I asked indignantly.

"Because I wanted to see what your reaction would be; you could also call it payback for hitting me with those water balloons yesterday," he replied. I crossed my arms and placed my left hand under my chin in contemplation before I slowly stalked toward Emmett until I was right in front of him.

We stared at each other before I motioned with my finger for him to bend down to my level. He came down so that our faces were just inches apart. I then smacked him along side of the head and turned around in such a way that my wet hair would hit him just right to cause a little sting. The others had another laugh at that.

'_You do realize that this means war_,' I thought. I looked up and I could tell that Edward heard me because his eyes locked with mine and a smile spread across his face. I sent him a return smile and turned toward my bag to get a new set of clothes. Then I walked into the forest a small distance and behind a tree to change.

I changed into a pair of black denim jeans, white long-sleeved tee with a black T-shirt over top of that. The pants had silver nubs along the pockets and outer seams of the legs; the shirt had 'Those that think that they know EVERYTHING annoy those of us that do' in big bold white lettering written across the chest.

As I walked back into camp I sat down next to my bag, combed out my hair and pulled it up into a ponytail. After I put on a pair of black combat boots that I had in my bag then I went over and sat next to Edward and leaned against his side with my forehead on his shoulder. Edward moved so that he could put his arm around me and he placed a kiss against my temple.

"How did you sleep Carrie," Carlisle asked kindly.

"Fine I guess. I forgot how hard the ground can be, so I'm a little sore. You guys have spoiled me with the soft mattress," I replied.

"But we enjoy spoiling you," Esme said as she handed me my breakfast. I thanked her and began to eat.

"So what are we going to being doing today," I asked eagerly.

"Well I figured that we would enjoy the lake. We could fish and canoe, stuff like that. Maybe do some more hiking later," Carlisle said. I said that that sounded like fun and finished my breakfast.

After I finished eating and Esme cleaned up we headed to the lake. Carlisle wanted me to wait an hour before I headed on the lake, so I walked around it gathering skipping stones. After I got a pile I began to try and skip the rocks. I tried to throw them like I have seen people do it before, but it didn't work. So instead I threw them like Frisbees; that was something we could do but I don't think that anyone brought one.

"You're not very good at that are you," Edward asked as he came up beside me.

"Not really, but what do you expect, I've never done this before," I said turning my head to glance at him for a moment.

"Then allow me to help," he said as he reached down and grabbed a stone. Edward then moved behind me, moved me so that I was at an angle to the lake, and used his foot to move my feet shoulder width apart. He grabbed my left hand with his and stepped right up behind me. Edward placed his feet on the outside of mine and we stood flush against each other. My back pressed against his chest.

Edward took his left hand which was holding mine and placed it against my stomach. He took the stone that he was holding and placed it in my right hand and wrapped his own right hand around mine.

"First you have to establish a rhythm," Edward said as our bodies began to sway side to side. He moved his head so that it was to the left of mine and over my shoulder.

"Once you get a feel for that you can add a little hip roll," he whispered in my ear. He removed his hands from mine and placed them on my hips. "As you sway to the left, lead with your left hip. Your hips will be slightly tilted with the left slightly higher, and vice versa with the right." He used his hands to guide my hips in the way that he mentioned. I could feel him moving along with me as I moved.

After moving like that for a few minutes he let go of my hips and grabbed hold of my hands. "Now as you move to the right you want to bring your arm back," he said as he moved our right arms back. "And as you move to the left, you bring your arm forward to throw the stone. You will want to kind of roll your wrist so that the stone gets some spin to it." He moved my arm with his demonstrating.

We practiced the motion for about a minute before he spoke up again. "It probably wouldn't hurt if you leaned into the throw a bit either," Edward said. As we went to move as if to throw the stone he slightly bent his right leg, which due to its position, caused mine to so the same.

After getting the feel of the movement, Edward's mouth moved down to my shoulder and then as he brought his head back up I could feel his nose and lips slightly brush up alongside my neck and come to a stop at my ear. "Are you ready to give it a try," he whispered, his breath tickling my ear and his lips slightly brushing against the shell. I nodded an affirmative.

We went through the movements again, but this time the rock was thrown. When the rock was released we stopped our movement, the only time during the entire process that we did so. I watched as the rock moved toward the lake and made ten jumps before it sunk into the depths of the lake.

"You did it, congratulations," Edward said with a crooked grin.

I turned my head to left so that I could see him. "All thanks to you, so thank you," I told him looking into his eyes, getting lost in their depths. Edward moved down slowly and placed his lips on mine to which I responded in kind.

I felt the tip of his tongue run against my bottom lip, asking permission for entrance, which I gave. I felt it enter my mouth and gently brush against mine, I shyly responded with my own hesitant touch. I barely felt as he turned me around so that we were facing each other. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my right hand found its way into his hair. I felt his right arm around me with his hand in the small of my back. I felt his left hand work its way to my hair and pulled it down gently from the pony tail. After my hair was free his hand buried itself at the back of my head.

He pulled me even closer to him so that we were pressed tightly against each other. He released my lips so I could breathe, but he was back just as soon as he was gone. When he finally did pull away I could feel that my lips must have been swollen and red, but it didn't matter.

"Come on the others are calling for us," Edward said. I listened and I could just barely hear someone yelling on another end of the lake. I nodded and he pulled me to his side as we started our trek around the lake with our arms around each other.

Edward stopped walking and I turned to look at him. "You like going at fast speeds right," he asked. I nodded hesitantly for I wasn't sure where this was going. He smiled then picked me up and placed me on his back. He was holding my legs under my knees and my hands were gripping his shoulders.

"You better hold on tight then," he said. I tightened my grip of my legs against his sides and placed my arms around his neck in a way so that I wouldn't choke him. Before he took off I felt his hands slide higher onto my upper thigh to almost my butt. I gasped involuntarily and heard him chuckle as we took off.

I loved the feeling of the wind flowing through my hair. I laughed as Edward jumped over the fallen trees that I climbed over to get where I was. When we landed it felt as though Edward put on another burst of speed. Before I knew it out little trip was over and we were standing on the dock with the others.

"So what have you two been doing," Rosalie said looking us over as Edward sat me down on my feet. I noticed that Alice's smile was a tad brighter than usual, as if she knew something that I didn't know.

"Edward was teaching me how to skip stones, since I was having trouble doing so. Thanks to him I was able to get a stone to skip ten times instead of just plopping into the water," I said. "So what are we going to do now, canoe races?"

"That sounds like an idea," Alice said as she dragged me into a canoe that was nearby. She took a seat in the back so that left the front to me. We paddled out to the front of the dock to wait for the others. Edward paddled up on my right; he was in the front with Rosalie in the back. Carlisle was on my left with Esme in the back. Jasper was on the other side of Carlisle with Emmett as his partner.

"The first ones to the other side of the lake and back wins," I said. "On your mark, get set, go!" I was paddling as fast and hard as I could on my right side and Alice was paddling on the left. I was trying to use long, strong strokes since that would be more affective then short strokes.

I looked to see how everyone was doing. Emmett and Jasper was slightly ahead of us; Emmett appeared to be riding a little lower in the water than Jasper. His build might have been slowing them down. Edward/ Rosalie and Carlisle/ Esme were a bit farther ahead of us; it was hard to tell who was winning.

"Hey Alice, do you think we can get up there to the leaders? We don't have to pass them, just get close behind them," I said. She grinned and nodded; we both put on more speed. We passed Jasper/ Emmett and closed in on the others. When we got closer I motioned for Alice to position us so that we were between them and to get closer. I placed the paddle across my lap and leaned forward, hands out stretched and I grabbed hold of both of the canoes.

Both Esme and Rosalie turned to look at me. "You're cheating," Rosalie said in a chastising tone. Esme was shaking her head side to side with her eyes closed almost as if she is use to the never ending ways that we pick on each other.

"No I'm not; besides, Alice is still rowing," I said as I motioned to her with my head. Rosalie and Esme looked at each other, nodded and started to paddle faster. I could tell that they were hoping that I would lose my grip, but I held on hard and Alice paddled faster to keep up with them.

We were traveling as fast as a motor boat, I was smiling at the speed since I'm a little speed demon. When we came to the last quarter or eighth of the lake I looked back at Alice and nodded; I let go of the canoes and started paddling to get us turned around. As I expected, our speed slowed a bit but we were able to turn like we were on a pivot. We were now traveling backwards, but paddling forward to slow our speed and to get going in the other direction.

Jasper and Emmett looked at us funny as they passed us but we just smiled at them. As planned we slowed and started heading in the opposite direction as the others were turning with some difficulty. I positioned myself so that I could use more of my body to make longer, stronger strokes and Alice put on more speed.

When we crossed the halfway mark I turned so I could see behind us. Everyone else was a distance behind us but they were quickly catching up. I turned back around and tried to paddle stronger and shortened my strokes a bit so the paddle wouldn't have to travel as far and cost us time.

As we were closing in on the finish line to check the others; they were practically on our tails. I analyzed all our speeds trying to come up with a plan which I put into effect during the last distance of the lake. I turned and nodded at Alice who got my idea, I love how we can communicate without speaking.

We did roughly the same thing that we did earlier; we turned so that we were perpendicular to the others and effectively blocking their path. We were still paddling so that we didn't slow down too much and I was kind of steering. I tried to prevent the others from going around us which they didn't really try for that would take some time. I would also distract them by occasionally splashing them with water.

With my tricking and slightly underhanded tactics, Alice and I won the race. The others collided with us a tipped the boat to the side. We didn't fall in…until Jasper/Emmett collided with us as well. The boat tilted the rest of the way and rolled over causing us to fall in. Alice grabbed a hold of me, but I stopped her from pulling me up and swam over toward Emmett direction, motioning her to follow.

I could hear the others start to call for us, but I ignored them for now. I held my hand up to Alice and did a countdown. After the countdown I started to swim upwards with Alice giving me a little push so I got out of the water. When I shot out of the water behind Emmett I latched onto his neck and when gravity took over I pulled him, and unfortunately Jasper, into the water.

Emmett broke out my hold and broke through the surface and I came up shortly after. "What did you do that for," he asked.

"I just happen to really like what I'm wearing, in fact they happen to be some of my favorites," I replied. Speaking of which I reached down to take off my boots because they were weighing me down and I took off my socks so that I wouldn't lose them. I tossed them into their canoe which didn't turn over during my little payback.

The water was cold and I was slightly shivering. My heart was beating slightly faster and my breathing was a bit different also. I was glad that I brought a swim suit and some older clothes because later in the day I was going to try fishing my way. Hopefully it will be a tad warmer then, but I doubt it; it's nothing that I'm not used to.

I started to swim my way toward shore, but someone pulled me out of the lake into a canoe. I was sitting in between Esme and Carlisle; Alice, Jasper and Emmett got back into their respective canoes and we all headed to the shore.

When we hit the ground Esme picked me up and ran back to camp. She handed me a towel to dry off and went to get me some dry clothes. I went to my bag and pulled out a swim suit; it was like the other one just brown with red roses and red shorts, and I pulled out my old shorts and tank top.

After I changed Esme handed be some sweats which I remembered seeing Edward wearing a couple of times around the house. I pulled these overtop of my old clothes and allowed Esme to comb my hair and pull it back into a French braid. I gathered up a towel and blanket and my spear in my arms to take with me for I'll need them later. Esme picked me back up and carried me back to the lake.

I looked at the others who took a dip with me and noticed that they were still wearing their wet clothes; of course they don't have to worry about getting sick. Emmett and Edward were throwing a football back and forth. "Sweet, someone brought a football, we can play a game of some sort," I said.

We played touch foot ball for a while; the teams were me, Carlisle, Rosalie and Jasper against Edward, Alice, Emmett and Esme. The other team won by two touch downs. We paused for lunch and afterwards we tossed the football around then played another game which my team actually one by one touchdown.

Carlisle left and came back with the fishing gear. It was a funny picture kind of, vampires fishing. Edward and I sat at the end of the dock; Alice and Rose were both further down the shore on our right; Carlisle and Esme were in a boat around the middle of the lake. Emmett was in his own boat around a hundred yards out and Jasper was sitting on a rocky outcrop on the left side of the lake.

It was a little after four o'clock in the afternoon and none of us have yet to catch anything. I know that fishing is all about patience, that's what I love about it. But we've been fishing for like four hours, and I was going to have fish for dinner. If I waited any longer it was going to be too dark and too cold.

"You want to come with me or are you going to stay here," I asked Edward.

"What do you mean," he asked.

"I'm going in there and I'm going to try it my way," I told him. He seemed to think it over before he nodded. I smile and gave him a kiss. Then I reeled in my line then got up to take off the sweats I was wearing.

Edward's POV

When Carrie started to take off her clothes, which were actually mine, I looked away. I took off my shoes and socks then stood up with my back toward her. I pulled my shirt off but I kept my jeans on. When I turned around I noticed that Carrie was wearing her old tank top and shorts, the same ones that we've tried to make her get rid of but she kept them anyways, overtop of a swimsuit.

Carrie smiled at me and held her hand out to me, in her left was her spear. I grabbed her hand and she turned jumped off of the end of the dock, dragging me with her. Carrie surfaced taking a gasping breath of air.

"What are you doing," I heard Rosalie shout.

"Carrie is showing me her way of fishing," I replied. I turned back to Carrie, I could tell that she was cold but she seemed to work past it. Her breaths were shorter, she was shivering and her teeth were chattering.

"First I have to get myself acclimated to holding my breath for a long period of time and diving at different depths and do some scouting," she said. And she did just that, it took about half an hour but she got to the point where she thought that she was ready. I observed her as she was swimming. She looked graceful as if she was really in her element. Again with her movements I was wondering if she was a vampire of some degree.

When we came across a small school of fish she handed me her spear to hold. I watch as she pulled some fabric from her pocket; it looked like some of the stuff that she used to make Rosalie's Halloween costume. She slowly made her way toward the fish and when she got really close she slowly made a wall around them with the fabric. She made sure to move slowly so as to not frighten the fish. Then quick as lightning she tried to encase one of them within the fabric by pulling the wall closed. When she went to inspect the fabric we discovered that she did indeed catch a small fish that was about the size of her hand.

She wrapped it back up in the fabric then she looked at me. A smile came across her face. _'I think that it's time for some payback from this morning,_' I heard her think as she slowly swam up towards what I recognized as Emmett's boat. I followed closely behind her, curious to what she had in mind.

We broke the surface three feet to Emmett's right. "Why did you come over here? You're scaring away all of the fish," he said slightly angry as he saw us approach his boat.

"Sorry Emmett," Carrie said. "I just need a quick breather before I did another dive and your boat was the closest thing."

"Fine, but what are you doing in there anyways the water must be freezing," he asked as he helped Carrie into the boat. After she was in he turned around so that his back was to her.

"I was doing some fishing of my own and Edward tagged along to watch. Your right it is pretty cold but I got tired of fishing with the rod so I'm taking a more hands on approach," she replied. The boat rocked a little bit as she got settled. She looked at me and gave me her smile that she gives when she was up to no good. I looked toward Emmett; (he was wearing a green long sleeve tee that was tucked into his blue jeans.) he didn't seem to notice a thing.

Carrie quickly removed the fish from the fabric. It was flipping so bad that she had to keep a tight grip on it. Emmett was watching his bobber so intently that he didn't see Carrie's reflection in the water.

She held the fish so that its face was pointed down and slowly reached toward Emmett's shirt collar. The fish was still wiggling in her hands. Carrie crouched forward and moved closer to Emmett. The boat rocked but Emmett dismissed it, keeping his attention on the bobber.

Carrie had the fish in the perfect position so she quickly pulled the shirt collar back and dropped the fish. Emmett moved so quickly that the boat tipped over and they both went into the water. Emmett came up and was struggling to get the fish out of his shirt but he couldn't get it out so he quickly swam to the shore.

When he got there Alice, Rosalie and Jasper were there to see what was wrong. Emmett was moving around trying to get the fish out of his shirt. I felt Carrie come behind me and wrap her arms around my neck. I could hear her giggles and feel the laughter that she was suppressing.

I could see the fish flipping around in Emmett's shirt. Rose went forward and pulled his shirt out in the back. They watched as the fish fell and flopped its way back into the lake. Carrie let forth her laughter then. She floated on her back, clutching her sides laughing to the sky.

I looked back towards the shore and sure enough they were looking this way, Emmett with a glare on his face. Carrie stopped her laughing and took her spear back. "That was for this morning," she shouted then dived back into the water. I looked back and I could tell at least Alice was laughing. I turned around and saw that Esme and Carlisle saw what occurred and were laughing also.

I then followed Carrie back into the water. It was a little after five now. We swam around looking for a decent sized fish. Carrie just came back down after getting some air when she tugged on my arm. I turned toward her and she pointed down and to our left. There I saw a fish that was about a foot and a half in length and as tall/wide as the length of my palm.

We slowly swam toward it so as to not frighten it. We watched as it swam into a hole in lake bed. As we approached it Carrie shifted her spear so that she could throw or jab it more easily. When we came upon the fish we found out that we blocked its only way of escape. It side was to us making it impossible to miss.

Carrie quickly jabbed her spear forward. After pushing some more she slowly pulled it back. There, impaled by the spear was the fish, about an inch behind the gills. To congratulate her I gave her a kiss, which was a bit difficult to do under water. I grabbed her hand as we swam back to the surface, then back to the shore with her hanging onto my back. Her thoughts were on the foggy side, letting me know that she was worn out from her time in the lake. Of course she would never admit that, being afraid as she was of us seeing her as weak.

The rest of the family was waiting on the dock for us. "Did you dears catch anything," Esme asked. Carrie held out her spear showing what she had got. Esme took the spear from her so she could get dried off and we walked back to camp. Actually I carried her back, which she complained about the entire time.

I set Carrie down and she left to get changed and came back wearing my sweats that she had on earlier while Esme started working on her fish; she even used some of the herbs that Carrie picked yesterday. Her clothes were hung with the others to dry. She sat down on her bed roll and wrapped herself in her blanket. I saw that she was still shivering so sat behind her with my arms around her. I know that with my cool body I wasn't helping any but it is the thought that counts right? Besides the coolness of my body has never seemed to bother her in the past.

As she ate we took turns telling ghost stories. The only one able to scare her was Jasper but that was probably because he could control what she felt. That night we had to stay in our tents because it began to rain.

WELL WHAT DO YOU THINK. i'M SORY AGAIN IF cARRIE SEEMS LIKE A BIT OF A MARY SUE, I TRIED TO MAKE HER SEEM MORE HUMAN. THE COLD THE SHIVERING. AS FOR THE CANOE RACES, I KNOW I'M GOING TO HEAR ABOUT IT , IT IS CALLED FICTION FOR A REASON.

TITLE POLL

DARKEST DAYS - 9

IT BEGINS - 8

THERE IS STILL TIME TO VOTE

NAMES IS STILL OPEN AS WELL BUT IF I DON'T GET MORE VOTERS I'M JUST GOING TO STICK WITH WHAT I HAVE ALREADY. ALSO SPEAKING OF POLLS THE ONE ON MY PROFILE I'LL PROBABLY GET RID OF BECAUSE WHAT I HAVE IN MIND RIGHT NOW THERE WILL BE SOME INTEREST BUT IN THE END NO PAIRINGS. BUT YOU CAN CHANGE THAT IF YOU WANT BY VOTING. ALSO I AM WORKING ON OTHER FICS BUT I AM HAVING A MUCH HARDER TIME WRITING THEM THAN I DID WITH THIS ONE SO PLEASE BE PATIENT IF YOU ARE EAGER TO READ MY OTHER IDEAS.

THANK YOU FOR READING AND PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!

VALLEYGOAT ^_^


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

THANK YOU OCEANICEAGLE FOR REVIEWING

I'M SO MAD THAT I HAVEN'T SEEN NEW MOON YET. IT IS MY FAVORITE BOOK OF THE SERIES AND IT IS THE ONE MOVIE THAT I ACTUALLY WANTED TO GOT TO THE MIDNIGHT RELEASE OF. I ALSO WANT TO SEE THE MOVIE THE BLIND SIDE I HEARD THAT IT IS REALLY GOOD. AND IF YOU ARE WONDERING I AM AM A BIT OF BOTH TEAM EDWARD AND TEAM JACOB (TEAM SWTZERLAND) BUT I LEAN MORE TOWARD JACOB (AND TEAM JASPER, HES MY FAVORITE VAMPIRE) BECAUSE IN A RELATIONSHIP I WOULD LIKE IT MORE IF I WAS FRIENDS WITH THE PERSON. I'M EVEN THINKING OF WRITING A FIC OF HOW THE TWILIGHT SAGA WILL GO IF I WAS IN BELLA SHOES USING MY CHARACTER CARRIE IN PLACE OF ME. BUT OF COURSE THAT IS ANOTHER IDEA IN MY ALREADY CROWDED MIND. IF ONLY THE IDEAS COULD COME OUT AND A STORY ACTUALLY COMES FROM IT. SUFFERING MAJOR WRITERS BLOCK, PLEANTY OF IDEAS JUST CAN'T GET THEM OUT AND HAVING HARD TIME GETTING IDEAS FOR WHT I AM ACTUALLY WORKING ON.

SORRY IF THERE ARE SOME MESS UP. MY LAPTOP IS NOW PRACTICALLY OFFICIALLY DEAD, ON A CONSTANT FREEZE PHASE, SO I HAVE NO WORKING VERSION OF WORD PROCESSOR OR ANYTHING OF THE LIKE FOR GRAMMAR CHECK.

I unfortunately do not own Lord of the Rings or anything associated with it.

**Chapter 18 End of the Weekend and Baseball**

Carrie's POV

That night as I tried to get some sleep Alice wanted to talk with me about Edward. I should have known it would happen soon. "Do you love him," she asked.

"I'm not sure, I've never been in love before so I don't know," I said quietly. We were silent for a while as we listened to the sound of the rain against the tent.

"How do you feel when you are around him; when you are held in his arms," she asked, turning so that she was facing me she looked into my eyes. Her head was propped up on her right hand while her left was on her side and her legs slightly bent to prevent her from rolling over.

"Well I feel special, like I'm important. I get that from all of you also. I feel safe like no one can hurt me. I get this fuzzy warm feeling that either starts in my chest or in my stomach and it spreads to the top of my head and the tip of my toes. I always want to smile and see one on his face," I said hesitantly for I was not sure of what I felt or how to even word it properly.

"Is he always in your thoughts, on your mind? Is he one of the first people that you think about," she asked. I thought about it then nodded. I could feel my face heating up from embarrassment. "Then you are in love. The only thing left for you to do is to say it yourself and to say it to him." She had a smile on her face as usual but it seemed to be brighter as she said that I was in love.

"But he deserves someone better than me. Besides from being covered in scars and burns what can I offer him? He deserves to find a vampiress and settle down with her," I said while I looked away from her. The thought of Edward going to someone else made me feel a sharp pang in my heart. Even though we have only known each other for a short amount of time it hurt to picture my life without him.

"Don't worry, I can tell that he loves you. All that you have to do is tell him how you feel. Now I want you to say that you love Edward Cullen ten times before I let you go to sleep," she said. I looked at her and saw that she was being serious about what she wanted me to do; I thought that she was only kidding. '_But what if he hears me? That would be embarrassing. Then again he and the others have probably heard this whole conversation._' Alice just gave me a look as to say get on with it and don't worry about it.

"…I love Edward Cullen…I love Edward Cullen…" Alice gave me a look at my quiet mouse like tone. "…I love Edward Cullen…I love Edward Cullen… I love Edward Cullen…" She was still giving me that look and she gave me a small slap on the arm. "…I love Edward Cullen… I love Edward Cullen…" I said with more confidence. Alice sent me a smile and encouraged me to continue. "I love Edward Cullen…I love Edward Cullen…I love Edward Cullen," I said with complete confidence, but without yelling.*

"So when are you going to tell him," Alice asked with the usual smile on her face as she turned to lie on her back with her arms cushioning her head. Her whole demeanor expressed how pleased she was with my 'confession'.

"Maybe during Christmas or New Years; I might even wrap myself up with a little bow," I said as a joke. Alice gave me an encouraging smile and pulled me to her for a hug. After that I went to sleep with a now almost always constant smile on my face.

The next morning

Esme got me up before dawn so we could hike up the mountain to watch the sunrise. She gave me an apple to eat to hold me over until we get back to the cabin. After I got dressed and grabbed my sketch book and colored pencils along with my bag and we set out. When we reached the top I took some pictures and sketched the view a few times. After the sun had completely broken over the horizon we left back to camp.

After we packed we did some more hiking and took a bunch more family pictures we headed back to the cabin. The first thing that I did was head up to my room and took a hot shower. Bathing in a pond can be fun and somewhat cold, but nothing beats modern plumbing. When I got out Esme had lunch ready for me and we discussed what we were going to do for the rest of the day for tomorrow morning.

We decided to watch a movie. In the theater room there was this huge big screen TV that took up a good portion on the wall. There were a lot of sofas and cushioned chairs as well. Included in the furniture was this really long sofa that could fit like twenty people. The seat of it was as wide as a twin sized bed. It was shaped so that it was like a three sided box. There were different types of armrests, a couple of which were slanted like an incline.

I sat next to one and leaned back against it on my right side with my back against the back and my head on my hand. I just relaxed there while I watched Emmett and Alice argue over which movie to watch. My attention was taken off of them when Edward came over and lay down on his back beside me and he pulled me close to his side. I placed my head on his chest with my left hand under tucked under my chin. My right arm was between us and he held my hand with his left against my side. His right arm was cushioning his head.

The others cuddled similarly on the same sofa or others. We spent the rest of the afternoon watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The only break that we took was when Esme prepared and served dinner before the last movie. After dinner Esme gave me small bowl of vanilla ice cream for dessert.

We sat right in the corner of the sofa so I could sit up and eat my ice cream. I was going to sit next to him but he pulled me into his lap so that I was sitting between his legs. His arms were around my waist and his hands were slowly rubbing my lower abdomen. His legs were slightly entangled with my own like before.

It was pretty late at night when the movie ended. "What did you think of the movies Carrie," Esme asked seeing as I was still awake and hadn't fallen asleep due to the late hour.

"I really liked it. I enjoyed the battle scenes, but my favorite part was when Eowen destroyed the Ring wraith. It was all confident that no man could destroy it and she was like 'I am no man' then stabbed it with her sword," I said with a small stretch while still being held in Edward's arms.

"Did you think that Legolas was good looking," Alice asked with a grin on her face and a twinkle in her eye.

"His looks were appealing, but I prefer darker haired guys," I said in a nonchalant kind of way.

"Like Edward," she pressed eagerly.

"Yes like Edward, but it could be that he is a vampire and is meant to draw me in with his charms," I said in a serious yet teasing sort of way. Edward retaliated by ticking me causing me to squirm in his arms.

"You should get to bed dear. We have to pack to head back home tomorrow," Esme said.

I got up off of the sofa (and Edward) unwillingly and slowly trudged to my room. I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. When I came back out I looked to my bed and saw Edward lying on the right side of my bed with the blankets on the left side turned down. He was wearing blue pajama pants with a black t-shirt, the opposite of me.

I crawled in and settled down; he leaned over me to tuck me in. He then leaned down and gave me a long, slow kiss goodnight. I brought my hands up to keep him there but he pulled away and lay down beside me. After he laid back down he pulled me close and tucked my head under his chin and his arms holding me to him. I moved so I was more comfortable and drifted to sleep, enjoying how it felt to have him here with me.

I woke the next morning with a strange weight leaning against me. I didn't know what it was then I remember how I slept with Edward last night. I opened my eyes and blinked away the sleepiness and blurriness and to get them accustomed to the morning light as well.

I tilted my head up so I could see what the weight was. I was met with the sight of Edward's head against my chest, directly over my heart. I then moved my head to the right to try and see his face better; his eyes were closed as if he were asleep. I observed him and noticed that he had a look of peace on his face, a look that I have never seen before. I thought I have seen it before, but never like this, he looks so stress free, without a care in the world. I took my left hand and brought it up to run my fingers through his hair.

He responded by tightening his grip around me and rubbed his cheek against me. He then pulled himself up so that his face was even with mine, looked into my (sleepy) eyes and kissed me softly. _'I could really get use to this,' _I thought as I wrapped my arms around him. Edward must have heard that thought because he chuckled as he pulled away. "Me too," he said. He gave me another kiss then left so we could change and get ready for the day.

I dressed into a pair of faded light blue low rise flair jeans and a baby pink happy bunny tee that said 'It's not your fault but I'm blaming you anyway.' I decided to leave my hair down for now but I put some hair things around my wrist. After I checked to see if I looked ok, which I'm still not used to doing, I left to head to the living room.

In there we checked to make sure that we had everything the cars were packed up and we left to go back to the manor. We packed up the night before during the movie break. On the ride back Edward, Alice and I sang along with the songs on the radio. Well it was just mainly Alice and I that sang. I was sad that we were leaving but I was looking forward to going home. Back at the manor after we unpacked and had everything put away we separated to do our own thing; I was headed to the library.

On the way I ran into Alice who pulled me back to my room to do some make up and put some jewelry on me. She loves dressing me up and doing my hair and makeup. I let her do it for it makes her happy. I left wearing pink lip gloss and eye shadow, a diamond accent heart pendant on a fine gold chain, three silver sex bracelets on each wrist, a silver ring with an black onyx stone/gem, something similar to their family colors, on my right ring finger and a gold ring with a light blue topaz gem and diamond accents on my left middle finger.

I felt that it was a little much but Alice assured me that I looked fine. She looped her arm with mine and we walked to the living room, my trip to the library was forgotten. In there Emmett and Jasper were playing an S.W.A.T. video game, Rosalie was looking through a magazine. I heard a piano playing so I knew where Edward was at. Esme was most likely in the kitchen and Carlisle was either with her or in his study.

I sat down next to Rosalie and watched the boys play their game; Alice sat on the other side of me, my right. Esme came in around half an hour later to call us in for breakfast/lunch. She made French toast, sausage, a fruit bowl with orange juice and milk.

"So how does the weather look like for today Alice," Emmett asked.

"There is going to be thunderstorms for most of the afternoon; from three until about seven I'm guessing so we will be able to get in a couple of games at least," she replied.

"Maybe Carrie could play a game with us," Esme suggested.

"As long as she isn't on my team," Emmett said. I sent him a pout which wasn't very effective while eating.

"Fine, she'll be on our team," Rosalie said smugly while putting her arm around my shoulders. I gave her a smile to show my gratitude.

"How about we make it more interesting," Edward said leaning forward. "If my team wins both games, your team will have to wear our jerseys."

"What does our team get," Jasper asked a calculating look on his face.

"How about we do whatever you want us to do for the whole weekend," Edward said as he leaned back.

"How about if their team wins you have to take Carrie on a date; you've been together for like a month now and you two have yet to go out," Alice suggested.

"Good luck finding time," I said. They turned to look at me. "You have forgotten that I have to start work again this week and I start working weekends. Eleven to seven on Saturday and twelve to five on Sunday as well as my usual four to nine on weekdays. Plus I have to do my homework."

"Gees Carrie, give us some credit when it comes to time management," Rosalie said with

an eye roll.

I thought about it then said, "Deal, but if we both win a game both 'punishments' must be carried out."

They had one of their silent conversations, well they were silent to me for the others spoke with their thoughts and Edward spoke so low/quiet that I couldn't hear it, then turned to me and nodded in agreement. After breakfast Emmett dragged me back to the living room and proceeded to explain the video game concept to me. He reminded me of how I've heard a little kid acts when showing off a new toy. He explained the controller and the set up of games. We then played a game and I totally blew it for even though he explained it to me I was still completely lost.

I played against everyone and there was no improvement on my part. Alice took pity on me and hooked up an easier game; dance dance revolution. I enjoyed this game a lot more because it involved two of my favorite things; dancing and music. I was really stiff at first, trying to hit the right arrows at the right time, but I quickly tired of that so I loosened up and tried to just have fun. We all took turns competing against each other and we even did a bit of a 'couples' or duos competition. Two of us would be on the same 'platform', taking care of certain arrows while we competed against another couple. It was difficult and not as flashy but fun none the less.

We took a break for me to eat a snack that Esme made to hold me over until dinner and afterwards we went our separate ways to do our own thing. Edward grabbed my hand and pulled me toward his piano. He moved the bench so that it was perpendicular to the piano. He sat me down on the seat and sat down behind to me.

"Since Emmett decided to explain video games I'm going to teach you how to play the piano," he said.

"Is Emmett the only reason why you are doing this," I asked curiously as I looked at him over my right shoulder.

"No I was going to anyways. I thought that it would be fun," he said after placing a kiss on my cheek. He then started his lesson with middle c and how it's probably one of the most important keys on the board. With that key I could more easily determine the other keys.

We did that until three when the storms were supposed to start. They left so that they could put their jerseys on; Carlisle and Esme, who already had their jerseys on, stood with me by the front door. "So I understand that you will be playing at least the first game with us," Esme said.

"Yeah and I apologize in advance for causing you guys to slow down," I said while looking down at my feet in order to hide my embarrassment.

"Oh it's alright, but tell me about this bet that I heard about," Carlisle said. He had been at work filling in for another doctor, not in his study like I had thought.

"Well if Edward's team wins both games my team has to wear his teams' jerseys. If the team I'm on wins he has to take me on a date. If both teams win a game both punishments must be exacted," I informed him. (Edward's team jersey is a white jersey shirt with dark blue stripes and Jasper's team jersey is dark blue with white stripes.)

When the rest of the family came down Edward pulled me on to his back. With that we went out the door and ran to the 'baseball field'. It took like fifteen minutes or so but it was fun, Edward and I were of course the first one to arrive. We stood by home plate while Carlisle and Esme used the bat to determine who would bat first. Edward's team (him, Emmett, Alice and Esme) took the field while Rosalie's team (her, me, Jasper, Carlisle) batted. (The teams are also known as Carlisle's team and Esme's team.) The order was Carlisle, Rosalie, Jasper then me. The game started when the thunder started rolling.

Esme was catching, Alice pitching, and Edward and Emmett in the field. The only warning that I got that Alice was going to throw the ball was her wind up which included raising her left leg up high. I could barely see the ball. I jumped when Carlisle hit the ball, it sounded like thunder, a loud crack. Now I know why they needed the storm.

Carlisle hit the ball past Emmett and made it to second base and Rosalie was up to bat. She managed to hit Carlisle in and she made it to second as well as the ball went between Emmett and Edward. She was then hit in by Jasper who made it to third after hitting the ball deep into right field. It was my turn to bat now.

"Are you sure you want to do this Carrie," Esme asked. "You could always be the umpire and I could be the catcher to both teams." I could she was concerned by the small, forced smile on her face, worried eyes and slight wrinkles marring her brow.

"I'm sure, I like to play sports, especially baseball," I said with a reassuring smile. Her team moved in closer so that it was like we were on a school softball field. Alice held her hand was palm up and the ball was resting in her fingers. She moved her finger up and her hand in a slight forward motion. The ball came toward me in nice arc with some speed. I swung and missed.

I could hear the others on my team giving reassurances. Jasper was telling me to hit him in. Alice threw the ball again, and I missed again. The reassurances were said was pestering me, trying to make me so upset that I would miss. Alice threw the ball for a third time, I swung and my bat connected. The ball headed toward center field.I watched Emmett and Edward as I ran toward first base; they were walking as a slightly faster pace than a humans' fast walk to be fair. I rounded first and headed to second. I saw as Alice headed toward second to act like a baseman. I watched as Emmett threw the ball toward her as she had done to me. I put on extra speed and as I got closer, as well as the ball, I slid feet first toward the base. Alice caught the ball and started to bring her hand down into the dust brought up by my slide.

Esme and Carlisle came up next to us to determine if I was in or out. My feet were over the base and the ball was just below my knees; I was safe. Rosalie and Jasper were cheering. Carlisle hit me in but got out at third, Rosalie got out at home and Jasper's hit was caught by Edward. My team took the field and I was pitching.

The others took their usual places, Carlisle catching with Jasper and Rosalie in the field, but I was a normal distance from the batters box.* Esme was up first, I couldn't prevent the ducking motion I did when the ball and bat connected, and got to third; Alice came up and hit a home run. Meaning she got to home plate before the ball could be thrown to the same location. The score was now three to two, my team in the lead. Edward managed to get to third before the ball did; I was acting as third baseman since I was the closest at that time. Emmett was up next so I took my place at the pitcher's mound.

"Come on princess, show me what you got," he said tauntingly.

"Sure thing Teddy," I told him with confident smirk. I looked down and Carlisle gave me a sign for a curve ball, inside corner. I did a wind up and released. Emmett hit the ball but it went foul. By now I have grown use so the sound of the ball hitting the bat and no longer flinched when it occurred. The next pitch was a fastball. Emmett swung and hit it; the only problem was that it was headed toward my head.

I reacted purely on instinct, I brought my hand up to try and catch the ball and protect my face at the same time even though I was ducking and turning away. I barely recall seeing the ball but I remember feeling a burning sting in my right hand.

Edward's POV

I was slightly worried about Carrie playing with us, but I wasn't too worried for she wasn't a klutz and she was tough for a human. Besides I and the others would be there if anything should happen. James was taken care of last year, Victoria was killed earlier in the year and we heard from the Denali clan that they had killed Laurent for he was still feasting on humans.

When I was waiting in the field I watched as Carrie pitched; she wasn't the greatest pitcher, but that was the safest position for her to play. Emmett came up to bat and the first pitch went foul. During the second pitch when I saw that he hit the ball and I took off running. I made the mistake of taking my eyes off of the ball and Carrie.

I heard a second smack and I saw worried looks on the other faces before they moved.I turned toward Carrie and I felt fear. She had her hands up by her head and twisting away as if she was still trying to avoid the ball. I immediately ran toward her, dread filled my being. I was hoping and praying that she wasn't injured.

"Carrie, are you alright," I asked as I grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face me. The others were standing around us trying to see if she was injured. I heard a giggle from her which had me confused. She turned to face me with a smile on her face. She then held up her right hand, her pitching hand, and grasped in it was the ball.

"Emmett is out," she said with a giggle and a smile. Carlisle took the ball out of her hand to examine her hand. The ring that we gave her was broken and fell off of her hand. "Oh I'm so sorry about the ring."

"Don't worry about it. How does your hand feel Carrie," he asked concerned while examining it.

"It really stings and it's tingling like mad. It will probably be sore for a little while," she said while she opened and closed her hand in a fist a few times while slightly rubbing it with her other hand.

"You're probably right. There are no broken bones and the healing breaks don't seem to be bothered. How about you and Edward sit the rest of the game out; his team will be awarded a point to make up for his absence and the both of you can act like umpires," he said.

She was about to argue but I just gently grasped her hand and pulled her back behind home plate. I was hoping the coolness of my hand will sooth the stinging and prevent any swelling. Some adjustments were made and the game began.

Emmett was a monkey man because he kept using the trees as leverage to jump to catch fly balls. He and Jasper had a little collision toward the end of the game which Carrie said reminded her of boulders colliding. When they collided Emmett dropped the ball which cost his team the game.

During the second game Emmett caught the ball and prevented Rosalie from getting a home run. They had an argument about it but Esme and Carlisle said that she was out. Rosalie was really mad for the rest of the game and had a ticked off look on her face. After that each time she was up she would try to hit Emmett with the ball. That was what cost her team the second game.

In the end the results were that each of our teams won a game. I guess I have to come up with a date plan. I looked at Carrie's hand and I didn't see any swelling. I asked her how her hand felt and she replied that it was just a little sore. I picked her up and placed her on my back as we started to head toward home.

Once at home we all just chilled in the living room until Esme said dinner was ready. I still had a hold of Carrie's hand, just to be on the safe side. At dinner we were discussing the game. The main topic was Carrie's catch. "I still can't believe that you caught that," Emmett said in awe.

"It seems that Carrie is still full of surprises," Carlisle said intrigued.

"I think that Emmett is just mad that he got out. Besides it was probably just an adrenaline rush, very common, you can Google it," she said. My head popped up at that. It was exactly the same thing that I said to Bella when she wondered how I stopped Tyler's van from crushing her. "I'm sorry about breaking the ring again. I know that it was your family colors and everything."

"That's ok. When you're a true member of the family, you'll get a necklace that is similar to Rosalie's and mine," Alice said as they pointed toward their necklaces. I noticed that she said 'when' and not 'if'. '_What does she know that I don't_,' I thought. I listened in to her thoughts and learned that it was hopeful optimism on her part for she is still not sure of anything pertaining Carrie's future as of yet.

"That's something to look forward to," she said with a smile, which was returned by the others.

After dinner Esme told Carrie to get ready for bed. I watched as she went up to her bedroom and a few minutes later I heard the water running for a shower. I headed over to my piano and began to play. I was thinking of writing a song for her like I did with Bella, but I wanted to do something different for her for she was different than Bella. She was stronger, less delicate and I didn't feel as though the piano would do her justice, she is intense like a fire, like the ocean.

"So, are you looking forward to your date with Carrie," Alice asked as she sat down next to me on the bench.

"I'm trying to figure out what to do. I know that she is different from other girls so I want to do something that isn't typical of the dating thing," I said.

"Well how about a picnic," Alice suggested. I gave her a confused look. "You could make her something and take her to a place with a nice view and shower her with attention and affection."

"I'll think about it. Besides it is getting pretty close to winter, it will probably start snowing soon." I told her.

"Then you should have it soon, maybe this Sunday after work. Why don't you think about giving her something to make her feel special," Alice suggested.

"Go away now Alice," I told her in a slightly aggravated tone. She left with a giggle. I turned back to my piano and began to play as I got lost in my thoughts. After a while I realized that I was playing the lullaby that I wrote for Bella and stopped.

There was still a soft spot for Bella in my heart, but I had to remind myself that she made

her choice and I have to move on. I was courting Carrie now and she has accepted my family and me easily. Better yet everyone in my family accepted her, even Rosalie and she is hard to get along with.

I noticed that it was nearing midnight so I got up and headed to my room. I didn't realize until I stopped that my feet had carried me to Carrie's room. I was standing by her desk watching her sleep. Her room was filled with moonlight which was bathing her form. She was curled up on her left side, holding a pillow to her chest. Her blankets had slipped down until they only covered most of her bottom half.

She was wearing a black silk night gown which Alice had bought for her last month. The contrast of the black silk and moonlight made it appear as if her skin was glowing. As I moved forward to fix her blankets I had to chuckle at what I saw.

The night gown had shimmied up her legs to just above her hips and instead of seeing skin; I saw that she was wearing a pair of shorts. Only she would do something like that. I also noticed that she did some altering at the top so that instead of spaghetti straps there were now short sleeves. The collar had a piece of fabric sown across the front and back so that not as much skin could be shown.

Apparently she is still a little self conscience about showing so much skin. I remember how she was uncomfortable about her Halloween dress being strapless, but she slowly got use to it after much encouragement and distraction. I still remember how breath taking she looked.

I grabbed her blankets and pulled them up to her shoulders. I take my right hand and moved some hair from off of her face and neck. I gently brushed my knuckles against her check and watched as she unconsciously moved into my touch. I leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek then left her room. I looked back once more before I headed to my room where I wrote in my journal about the last few days.

*ORIGINALLY WRITEN WITH THE TEXT REALLY SMALL (8) BUT EACH TIME IT IS SAID THE TEXT GETS REALLY BIG (42) UNFORTUNATELY THAT DID NOT CARRY OVER IN THE UPLOADING.

*I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE ACTUAL POSITION WOULD BE. MY MOM HAS MY TWLIGHT BOOKS BECAUSE SHE WANTS TO READ THEM TO SEE WHAT ALL THE HYPE IS ABOUT. SHE IS NOT REALLY LIKING IT SO SHE IS TAKING FOREVER TO READ THEM AND I CAN'T GET THE BOOKS BACK UNTIL SHE IS DONE WITH THEM.

ALRIGHT THERE YOU GO ANOTHER CHAPTER. THANKSGIVING, I HOPE YOU ALL HAD A PLEASANT ONE, IS OVER AND THEY ARE BACK TO SCHOOL TUESDAY WHICH IS TOMORROW, OR TODAY SINCE I AM POSTING THIS IN THE MORNING, SO YOUR READING IT AS IT HAPPENS. WHOA THE TIMELINES MATCH UP, IN A WAY. I KNOW THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE, MIND MUDDLED, SO TIRED ONLY SLEEPING TWO HOURS A NIGHT FOR LIKE THE PAST WEEK.

FYI I HAVE CLOSED THE POLL ON MY PROFILE FOR I THINK I HAVE PRETTY MUCH DECIDED ON ANY POSSIBLE PAIRINGS, BUT I WILL KEEP THE RESULTS IN MIND AND WILL STILL BE OPEN TO IDEAS AND EXTRA VOTES.

TITLE POLL

****

DARKEST DAYS - 9 IT BEGINS - 8,

THANK YOU FOR READING SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE **PLEASE REVIEW**. REVIEWS MAKE ME HAPPY AND THE MORE THERE ARE THE HAPPIER I GET. ^_^

IT IS CLOSING IN BUT THERE IS STILL TIME TO VOTE. ^_^ THE NAME POLL IS STILL OPEN BUT IS GETTING NO HITS. SEE A PREVIOUS CHAPTER FOR CHIOCES 


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

THANK YOU TO OCEANICEAGLE FOR REVIEWING THE LAST CHAPTER AND THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO HAVE READ THIS FIC SO FAR, BUT HAVEN'T REVIEWED. HERE'S CELEBRATING OVER 1,100 HITS. HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HERE IS YOUR EARLY PRESENT. I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM ALL OF YOU IN THE NEW YEAR, SEE YOU AGAIN THEN ^_^.

Chapter 19 Fulfilling the Bet

The next morning

Carrie's POV

This morning I was wakened up by Alice jumping on my bed. "Did you have some sugar rich blood or something this morning," I grouched a bit annoyed at the rude awakening. I sat up on my elbows to give her a better annoyed 'why are you waking me look'. I pulled my legs a bit closer to my body so Alice wouldn't accidentally step on them since she was still jumping around. I knew that she wouldn't actually step on them since she is being careful and staying at the foot of the bed, so you can call it a natural reaction.

"I want to pick out your outfit today, besides Esme told me to get you up," she replied with a smile while jumping off of my bed totally ignoring the peeved look I threw her.

"Is that all," I questioned as I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to do my morning ritual then headed downstairs for breakfast. Esme need to go shopping so I had cereal for breakfast; the others were absent at the moment. After which Alice dragged my back up in to my room then waited for me to brush my teeth.

When I was done she handed me the clothes that she wanted me to wear. The outfit consisted of black low rise flair jeans, a red turtle neck and a black vest with a burgundy inside with same color trim, zipper and stitches. "There sure is a lot of black here Alice; usually you have me wearing a more colors." I said turning my eyes from the outfit I was wearing to Alice and back again.

"I'm trying something different for you," she replied as she pulled me to my vanity. She brushed out my hair then separated the top half which she placed into two pigtails. She put on the same makeup, minus the lipstick (she used clear gloss instead), that I wore for Halloween and for jewelry I wore the diamond accented heart necklace that I wore yesterday.

"What about the jersey," I asked confused wondering why she wasn't wearing hers.

"We are going to do that tomorrow. Esme didn't wash them last night and some mends need to be made," Alice said as we walked to the living room. I was a bit confused at his because from what I saw the jerseys were in near perfect condition. When we entered the living room I saw why she dressed me like this, she had dressed me so that I sort of matched Edward.

He was wearing black jeans, a red long sleeve tee and a black short sleeved outer shirt that was unbuttoned and tennis shoes. "I know that you guys dress to complement each other, but why do you dress me to match Edward," I asked Alice my brow raised in question.

"Because I think that it's cute," she replied with a smile. I rolled my eyes at her. We gathered up our things and headed to school. It was much the same as always, but the teachers asked us how our weekends went and what we did.

"Ok class, before we get started I want to hear what you did for your extended weekend," the biology teacher said drawing the attention of the classroom to him. Mike and Eric went to Port Angeles with their girlfriends, and many traveled to be with other family or stayed at home.

"How about you Bella," he asked going around the room and giving everyone a chance to answer.

"I spent my weekend at La Push with my dad, close family friends and my boyfriend," she said and the way she said boyfriend was clearly a jab at Edward. I couldn't tell if it

affected him or not, but I don't think that it did.

"What did you do during break Edward," he asked.

"Camping with my family," was his short reply. I still couldn't really tell if he was upset with the jab or not.

"How about you Carrie, What did you do this weekend?" the teacher asked me at last since I was the only person left who hasn't answered yet.

"I went camping with the Cullen's," I answered. Bella turned around so fast that I thought that she would get whiplash and she gave me and Edward an incredulous stare. The other students gave me shocked looks as well, as well as the teacher. This will be something else for her to be jealous about no doubt.

"Do you mind me asking about what you did," the teacher asked. I glanced at Edward and he gave me a small nod and an encouraging smile.

"Well Dr. Cullen rented a cabin for a weekend which had an indoor pool and hot tub. We spent the first day swimming and enjoying the hot tub." I saw as Bella's mouth dropped open further. I just knew she was trying to picture Edward in the hot tub.

"Then the second day we went hiking and set up camp. The third day was exploring and fishing. At night we told ghost stories around the camp fire. On Sunday we packed up camp, did some more hiking packed up and headed back to the cabin where we watched movies. On Monday we came back, played some video games, Edward started to teach me to play the piano and we played a couple of games of baseball. We had to stop due to the storm," I stated. By the end Bella was glaring daggers at me again, if only looks could kill.

"Well it sounds like you and the Cullen's had a fun filled weekend. Now time to start class." He stood up straight from leaning against his desk, arms and legs crossed. As he stood straight an excited smile spread across his face and he uncrossed his arms, then clapped them and rubbed them together. I guess he was trying to get us excited about what he was about to tell us. "During break I graded your projects and decided which group had the best 3d representation of the cells. And the winners are," he said as he walked over to the board behind his desk and pulled up the projection screen that was covering it.

"Edward and Carrie," he said as our names were revealed. "You two had the most interesting and most accurate representation. You separated the project into two separate cells instead of having it all in one like everyone else. And the idea was most creative; you made your cells out of cookies and other edible things. I hope you don't mind, but I ate one and saved the other one for the class." With that said he handed out a piece of our project to everyone in the class.

We got compliments on our baking. Edward gave me his piece which I wrapped for later. I noticed that Bella threw hers in the garbage. The rest of the day went as usual, and after school I went to work after I dropped my stuff off and changed.

At work everyone that I was working with kept asking me on how I was doing. They assumed that whatever was wrong with me must have been pretty severe if I missed an entire month of work. I'm not sure what Carlisle and Esme told them or if they found out about my injuries so I just said that I was better now and glad to be back at work. I guess they can't make the connection of me being injured such as to why I was to my absence at work. Then again they never really saw me when I was injured and they must have not listened to people talk. (It is a small town there was bound to be some chatter.) I thanked Megan for not firing me and allowing me to work despite my extended absence. Some people from school told me that it is nice to see me at work again. Overall it was the same old work as it had been and during my breaks I worked on some homework that I had brought with me.

After work Carlisle picked me up on his way home from the hospital. "So Carrie, how do you like living with us," he asks. I couldn't really tell where he was going with this, but I answered him honestly.

"I love it. I feel as though I belong, I feel as though I am among family," I said and not for the first time I realized how true it was. How right it felt to be with the Cullen's. I could feel warmth spread from head to toe as I thought about it.

"I'm glad to hear that. What would you say if we asked you to become one of us, to be a real member of our family," Carlisle questioned his tone casual but serious most likely trying to not freak me out.

"I would love to, but I couldn't ask you to do that. Besides could you deal with what Emmett and I do to each other for the rest of eternity," I asked with a small laugh. I was still of two minds when it came to being changed. I am still scared that they would leave me and what would I do if I was changed and then they left me? I would be alone forever. Can I even handle seeing people grow old and die while I remain frozen in time. Sure I don't have any connections to them but will I be able to it without losing my mind. I have to come to terms with my own insecurities before I could commit to something so permanent.

"But if something were to happen to you, and nothing of modern medicine could save you, what then," he asked giving me a serious face. So this was what he was trying to get to. He wanted to know if he had my blessing to change me if I am on my death bed. I was silent as I thought over is question. I wouldn't want to be separated from the people that I love and cherish and see as family. As we turned on to the 'drive way' to the house I gave him my answer.

"If you guys happen to find me as I was dying, I give you permission to change me, but only if the change wouldn't be too much of a strain on my body. I don't want you to change me if I may not survive the transformation. If not, let nature take its course." It would be much harder for them to deal if they had tried to save me and failed then if they did not try at all.

Once inside I headed to my room and took a shower. After that I worked on my homework. Esme came up and got me to eat a late supper. After that I finished up my homework and went to bed a little after midnight.

The next morning I had a little trouble waking up. As I was sitting at my place at the table waiting for breakfast with the others when Emmett decided that he was going to help wake me up. He did so my dropping a handful of ice cubes down my shirt. That caused me to jump up with a little squeak as I tried to get them out of my shirt. It kind of helped, but not much.

"I still don't see how you find ice cubes cold, but not us," Rosalie said. The others looked at me after she said that.

"Well I don't really notice the coolness of your skin." Both Rosalie and Alice had a hand on the table near me so I placed one of mine on top of each of theirs. "I feel it but it's comforting to me and I can feel warmth from you also. It is kind of hard to explain," I said my words running off as I tried to think of a way to explain it properly as I removed my hand from theirs and crossed my arms in my traditional thinking pose. "Ok I got it! You know that feeling of warmth in your chest that you get when you think of a love one?" I asked and they nodded they all know what love feels like. "That is what your touch feels like to me. While your hand may be cool I don't really feel it or notice it because of the warmth. Do you get it?" I asked unsure if I explained it well enough. I often have trouble saying what I think and it is more difficult when emotions are involved. If the smiles that they were all shooting at me were any indication then they did get it. I finished my breakfast and headed to my room to get ready.

My outfit today consisted of blue jeans and a grey long sleeved sweater over a white t-shirt. Alice and Rosalie my not totally agree with my choice but I felt like going along with comfort clothes instead of fashion. I pulled my hair up into a simple pony tail, and I didn't bother with make up or jewelry. When I was done I headed down to the living room with my bag in hand.

"There you are Carrie, we were waiting for you," Esme said. In her arms appeared to be the jerseys. "We have something for you." She handed me the top jersey. I took it from her and held it up to look at it.

It was dark blue with white stripes. Over the heart was the Cullen family crest. I turned it over to look at the back; across the shoulders was my name in two inch tall white patches and below that was a large number eight, also white.

"Go ahead and try it on," Esme said and I wordlessly did as she said. It was a loose fit, which I liked because I don't like wearing tight clothes. "What do you think," she asked a smile on her face.

"Oh I love it. I look like the rest of the team and I can wear it the next time we play baseball," I said as I took it back off. Edward took it from me and put it on himself.

"What are you doing Edward," I asked confused. I could feel my eyebrows lifting incredulously then furrowing in confusion at his actions.

"Don't you remember the bet? We are going to wear the other team's jerseys today," he said with a shrug of his shoulders like it wasn't that big of a deal. I could feel a blush spreading across my face at seeing him wearing something, an article of my clothing to be specific, of mine.

"I thought that it was just my team that had to do it," I asked as I took his jersey that he handed me. His had the opposite colors, his name and the number two. Apparently Esme changed all of the jerseys.

"The others decided that they would do it also since they didn't really get a punishment for losing a game," he said. I looked at the others and watched as they put on their respective persons jersey as I put mine/Edward's on. (numbers were Carlisle -1, Edward - 2, Esme - 3, Rosalie - 4, Emmett - 5, Alice - 6, Jasper - 7, and me - 8; it was supposed to be the order in which they joined the family.)

Edward was wearing jeans and a black long sleeve tee. Alice was wearing black jeans, white tee and black zip up sweater. Rose was wearing blue jeans, light green shirt with a tan jacket vest with a 'fur' lined hood. Jasper was wearing blue jeans and a dark navy blue sweater with a checkered pattern across the chest. Emmett was wearing ripped up, faded blue jeans with a black t-shirt and blue zip up hoodie.

After grabbing a coat and my bag we headed on our way to school. I rode with Edward as the others went with Rosalie. With the colder weather Rosalie ought to think about driving another vehicle rather than her BMW convertible, people might start to get suspicious. At school we just hung around the cars, not really doing anything, until it was time to get to class.

Edward walked me to class and before I entered the classroom he softly pushed me against the lockers and kissed me deeply. All this public displays of affection were going to take a long time to get use to, not that I am complaining. That boy sure knew how to take my breath away. When I walked into English and sat in my seat Jessica came up to me and asked, "Are you like wearing Edward's jersey." I nodded the affirmative. "Why would he need a jersey?" Jessica was obviously trying to find some gossip to spread.

"He wears one when he and his family play baseball," I replied.

"So why are you wearing his," she asked.

"It's not really any of your business but I'm wearing it because of the terms of the game we played. The losing team had to wear the winning team's jersey to school. Both teams lost a game so we are all wearing each other's jerseys," I told her.

"So he is like wearing yours which has like your name on it and everything right," Jessica questioned.

"Yes," I answered impatiently. Jessica left and I could hear her telling her friends about it. After class Emmett, who looked like the jersey he was wearing, was going to rip at any moment, and was there to walk with me to Latin where the teacher pointed out that we were wearing jerseys that didn't have our names on it. We started translating the First Gallic War written by Julius Caesar. After class Emmett walked with me, while discussing the length and structure of the sentences of the translation, until we met up with Rosalie and I walked with her to class.

In that class Rose and I were again questioned about the jerseys. Rosalie replied it was how our boyfriends showed that we are taken. I didn't bother to say anything about that. In fact I felt my face heat up a bit at that, Edward staking a claim on me.

After class Edward was in his usual spot waiting for me. He took some books from me, gave me a kiss on my cheek and put his arm around my shoulders as we walked to biology. From the minute that I walked in and until I left Bella kept glaring daggers at me. It was quite obvious since I sit behind her and she has to slightly turn to see me. She would look at Edward longingly also and I could tell that she wanted to rip my jersey off of him and rip his off of me. She would probably put it on herself.

The rest of the day was the same as usual. In gym we started a volleyball tournament. We were going to start off on teams of six and go until the end; then we were going to do it all again but in teams of three. And of course the Cullen's and I made up a team of six. We played one game which we won.

After school we headed back to the manor. I unpacked and spread out in the living room to do my homework and I took some with me to do during my breaks. Carlisle picked me up again.

"You seem to have Edward quite nervous," he said with a hint of amusement.

"What do you mean," I asked curious as to what he meant.

"Well he is trying to figure out what to do for a date. From what I understand from Esme when you go out to work, he goes out to try and figure out what to do. He is also trying to figure out when the date should be since you work long hours," he said.

"I didn't think anything about me was complicated. I'm a simple girl, I'm just happy that he wants to spend time with me," I said in all honesty and a small smile.

"Well he really wants to surprise you," Carlisle stated with a smile.

"I'm sure I will be," I replied with my own crooked grin, a habit that I seem to have picked up from Edward. (Jasper has one as well but since he is so serious all the time the only time I've seen it was during the baseball game.)

The rest of the week went on as usual. I would go to school, go back to the manor, and go to work and then return. The next morning I would get up and do it all again. At least I was never bored with all of the Cullen's around. Saturday I had to get up early because I had to be at work by eleven. Emmett gave me ride in his jeep, before he left he gave me a lunch that Esme had made for me. "Be careful now princess," he said in his teasing big brother way.

"Alright Emm," I replied waving him off as I entered the building. It was a bit more crowded in Maria's than usual. I saw more kids from school and some other people our age that I haven't seen before. It was a bit hectic, and I was constantly busy cleaning up messes and cleaning off tables. I went outside during breaks to get away from the crowd, the noise and stuffy atmosphere. I worked on some home work that I did, mainly reading for English and Latin. For English we were reading A Prayer for Owen Meany and for Latin we were reading The Agony and the Ecstasy by John Irving. (I don't own either)

Alice was there to pick me up at seven. "I believe you guys have definitely spoiled me," I said in a tired way. The work wasn't all that hard just tedious in it repetition and all the people really wore me out.

"What makes you say that," she asked in her normal chipper way.

"Well I'm exhausted from working here and getting less sleep at night. I was use to this. Just think of how tired I will be this next week. Tomorrow I got to go over and clean out the house and I'll have to start sleeping in my den some time. I've gotten used to sleeping in a soft warm bed. I've been pampered and now I have to go back to how it was before," I said in a small rant.

"You could just quit, we can make up the difference of the check," Alice said as if was nothing. I still can't get over how nonchalant they can be about things, especially money.

"As I have said before I couldn't let you do that. I am perfectly capable of doing it myself. I just might get a little crabby until I get back into the swing of things," I said with my stubborn side showing as I crossed my arms, leaned against the door and looked at the window, not that I could see anything. It is just an action that helps calm me down and I can let my mind wander so that I could more easily ponder on what I thought and/or felt.

We were quite the rest of the way home, I mean the manor. Awe heck I'll just say home I'm too tired to argue with myself. I have been having a strange feeling that I can't seem to identify when I refer to the manor as home that has me questioning it. In addition to the normal happy and loving feel that I get from the Cullen's I get a feeling like it is a sanctuary and for some reason I question why I feel that way. I'm pretty sure I know why but something tells me that there is more to it. '_I must be more tired than I thought_,' I said to myself. We walked into the living room and Esme was there to greet us. "Hello Carrie dear how was work," she asked as she came up and wrapped her arms around me in a motherly hug.

"Troublesome," I replied. "I didn't realize how crowded it gets on the weekends. I felt suffocated by how many people were moving around in there."

"Why don't you go and take a hot bubble bath to relax while I get started on your supper," she said as she walked beside me toward the stairs with her arm around my shoulders.

"You read my mind. Are you sure that mind reading isn't your power," I questioned as I looked to my right to see her face.

"No it's not and our mind reader is out at the moment," she said as she motioned for me to go on up the stairs that we were standing in front of.

I headed to my room without any further nudging. I headed to my bathroom and started to fill the tub with steaming water. I poured in some lavender bubble bath that Alice bought for me. I left to get my robe and my small portable stereo. I turned off the water and put in a CD, undressed and got into the water.

The CD I was listening to was Beethoven's Most Memorable. I closed my eyes and let my mind drift with the music. I gently scrubbed with the matching body wash that came with the bubble bath. I hope the Cullen's like lavender because that is what I'm going to be smelling strongly of it after this. I sat back and slipped down until my chin was touching the water. I pinned my hair up so that it wouldn't get wet. I let the water, scent and music calm and sooth my mind and body.

I wasn't sure how long I had been in there but I was interrupted by a knocking at my door.

"Who is it," I asked as I sat up.

"It's Jasper, dinner is going to be ready in about half an hour," he said through the door.

"Thanks Jasper," I replied. I got out and determine that I had been in the tub for a while because my skin was pruned and the water felt cooler. I dried off and put my robe on. I turned off the stereo and headed into my room to get dressed.

I changed into an oversized brown shirt that said: 'YES I KNOW I'M CUDDLE WORTHY' in orange lettering that came down to just past my butt. Underneath I was wearing a pair of matching shorts that were orange and had little fluffy looking brown bears on them that came down to about mid thigh. It was a gift from Emmett after I got a smaller gym uniform. I then headed back to the bathroom to comb out my hair. Afterwards I headed to the living room with my books and question booklets for school in hand.

"Awe look, Carrie's wearing the clothes that I got her. I told you she would look cute in them," Emmett said as I walked into the living room. I stopped in my tracks and I could feel a blush spread across my face and I crossed my arms as best as I could with the books in indignation.

He came over to me and picked me up so that he could sort of rub his cheek against mine, but it was mainly a bear hug all the while 'gushing' about how cute I looked. He pulled away and held me in his left arm and brought his right hand up to pinch my left cheek. I saw some flash of light so I knew someone, probably Alice, took a picture.

Emmett set me down on my feet then ruffled my hair. He headed back over to continue playing his video game. I went over to one of the love seats and plopped down on my back and threw my legs over the back and my head on the armrest. I opened up A&E and began to read.

So far I really like this book. It is about the life of Michelangelo; painter of the Sistine Chapel and carver of Madonna (the statue of Mary and Jesus after His crucification) along with various other wonderful works of art. I got so drawn into it that I forgot to stop at the end of the section to answer the questions accompanying it.

When I realized that I had been neglecting the questions I stopped reading, set my book down on my stomach and reached for the packet that contained the questions. However the book wasn't on the coffee table, I turned a bit but I didn't see it on the floor either.

"Are you looking for this," I heard someone ask. I turned toward the voice just to see Edward sitting on the other half of the love seat with my packet in hand, writing what I guessed were the answers in it. I didn't even notice when he sat there.

"Give that back Edward; I can't have you doing my work, it's not fair," I said as I held my hand out toward him. He just took his right hand, shook mine then went back to writing in my packet.

I picked up my feet and went to move them down so that I could move to sit up, but since they were close to him, Edward grabbed my ankles and trapped them in the crook of his arm and went back to writing.

After a short struggle I freed my limbs but before I could move Edward moved so that he was leaning against the arm rest, in a half lying down kind of way, and placed his body on top of mine and his feet were pinning my shoulders.

I brought my arms up and pushed against the inside of his legs to push them away while pulling my legs out from under him at the same time. As soon as his feet slipped off of my shoulders I lunged forward. However he held the packet out of my reach and wrapped his legs around me so that I couldn't move. "Oh come on Eddie and just give it to me please," I complained as I continued to reach for the packet but only making it to just shy of his elbow.

"Now where is the fun in that," he replied as he looked down at me. I let out a breath of frustration and plopped my chin down on his chest while glaring at him. We sat there for a little bit and he loosened up to remove his legs from around me. I took this chance and lunged again.

I was able to get within inches of it before he stopped me again. His free right arm was wrapped around my hips so that made his face right even with my chest. Of course I didn't realize this as I was trying to get my packet back. It was literally at my finger tips so I tried to shimmy up a little more.

The next thing I know is that I was on my back again with Edward on top of me. His face was buried in my neck and his hands were holding mine above my head. It scared me a little bit because I wasn't expecting it, but I kept control of my breathing and didn't fight or provoke him. Besides I know that he won't hurt, at least I hope so but I doubt it.

He brought his head up and looked like he was about to say something but he just got off of me and handed me my packet and book that fell to the floor during our little skirmish while I looked at him in confusion at what happened and why. Esme came in shortly afterwards and announced that dinner was ready.

That night Esme made a small pork roast with mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans. It was a bit of a quite affair, we all talked about what we did that day. Carlisle discussed a small car crash that took place today just outside of town.

"Apparently Tyler wrecked another van today. He was driving too fast on a wet road and when he went to turn he went off of the road into a tree. Chief Swan came into the hospital to get my report and he stopped and asked for his license. Tyler handed it over and Charlie took a pair of scissors that were nearby and cut up his license there and then. He said, 'I should have done this last year.'" Carlisle told us. I asked what he meant about that and Alice was the one who quietly informed me of the time Edward saved Bella from being hit by Tyler's van. Even though they have told me about their lives I am still in the dark about Edward's previous relationship with Bella.

After dinner I went up to my room to do some more homework. I opened my packet to the appropriate page and stared at what was written. Edward did put down the correct answers but he also drew little hearts on the pages and his name everywhere. Seeing this brought a smile to my face but I was slightly angry. He made my school work look like it belongs to a school girl with a crush. Okay it's true but I like my work to be professional looking. That's why I have a sketchbook so I can draw in to and not on my work.

With a slightly heavy heart I began to erase his little drawings. Alice came in about half way through wondering what I was doing. I showed her my packet and when she asked why I was erasing it and I told her my reason.

"So does that mean that he can do it on something else of yours as long it isn't your school work," she asked with a mysterious glint in her eyes.

"Yeah I guess," I said as I continued to erase the 'love marks' from my work. Thankfully he wrote them light enough where there were no traces of them ever being there after they were erased.

When I was finished I set my stuff aside and plopped down on my bed on my stomach. Alice lay down next to me and brought up the topic of Christmas shopping. We talked about when we should start doing our shopping and when we should shop with whom so no one will know what they get.

The only time I really had to go shopping was Sunday before and after work but starting tomorrow night I have to start staying in my den because Thom and Liz come back tomorrow. Alice said that she would take care of cleaning the house for me tomorrow that way I get some more relaxation in.

Rosalie and Esme came in later and we wrote down our gift suggestions for the guys. We wrote them down so the guys wouldn't hear us and we thought of something else so Edward couldn't read our minds. We also made sure that our eyes didn't stay on the list for too long so that he couldn't see what was written through our eyes. It was hard to consciously think about two things at once without really thinking of it.

It was a little after midnight when they left so I could get some sleep. I was determined to enjoy this bed tonight for I'm not sure when the next time I got to sleep in it will be. I pulled my blankets up and wrapped them tightly around me and snuggled into the fluffy pillows.

POLLS - **THERE IS STILL TIME TO VOTE, JUST MESSAGE ME OR INCLUDE IT WITH YOUR REVIEW.**

IT BEGINS - 8

DARKEST DAYS - 9

I'VE STOPPED THE NAME VOTE SINCE I'M NOT GETTING HITS ON IT AND NO ONE HAS VOTED ONE THE TITLE IN LIKE TEN CHAPTERS.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW BECAUSE IT MAKES ME HAPPY AND I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT IT SO THAT I CAN BETTER IMPROVE MY WRITING.


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

ALRIGHTY HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE IT IS 2010, WOW I FEL OLD FOR SOME REASON. OH WELL. LETS SEE SOME THANK YOUS ARE IN ORDER/ THANK YOU** HAUYSER, OCEANICEAGLE**, AND **TRIFORCEANDSHEIKAHARTS** FOR SUBMITTING A REVIEW SINCE THE LAST CHAPTER WAS POSTED. THANK YOU FOR **HAUYSER** AND **TRIFORCEANDSHEIKAHARTS** FOR SIGNING UP FOR ALERTS FOR THIS FIC. AND THANK YUO **TRIFORCEANDSHEIKAHARTS** FOR ADDING THIS FIC TO THEIR FAVORITES LIST. YEAH IT IS WHEN I GET FEED BACK LIKE THIS FROM READERS THAT KEEPS ME UPDATING AND WRITING. i WAS GOING TO HAVE SOMETHING ELSE POSTED THIS TIME AS WELL BUT I DECIDED TO WAIT UNTIL I HAVE MORE WRITTEN AND HAVE A BETA LOOK AT IT AND CONTRIBUTE MORE IDEAS BEFORE I POST, BUT IT WILL MOST DEFINATE BE UP WHEN THIS ONE GETS CLOSER TO ENDING. I WILL I WILL I WILL.

I APOLOGIZE AHEAD OF TIME IF EDWARD SEEMS A BIT MORE OUT OF CHARACTER THAN NORMAL. I HAVE NO EXPERIENCE WHEN IT COMES TO DATING SO I TRIED TO DO MY OWN VERSION OF THINGS THAT I HAVE HEARD OR READ.

Chapter 20 **The Date**

Carrie POV

I awoke the next morning around eight thirty according to my clock. I uncurled and started to stretch out to get ready for the day. As I was stretching my hand brushed against something foreign, something that was not there last night.

I turned my head to see what it was and there lying on my pillow was a red rose with a red ribbon tied to the stem. The thorns had been cut off so I couldn't cut myself upon them. Underneath the rose was a small envelope that had my name written on it in a familiar elegant script. I picked it up and pulled out a small card that was inside it. The card read:

'_I considered giving you a rose for every time I thought about you but I don't think there would be enough roses in the world for that. So I give you this single rose which reminds me of the sunrise; the sunrise which reminded me of you for you have been a ray of sunshine in my life._

_P.S. head down to the dining room for another surprise.'_

After I read the card I began to wonder how long I had been asleep. Is it Valentine's Day or something? I got out of my bed and headed to the door and I pulled it the rest of the way open, the rose and card held in my left hand.

I hear music playing which isn't uncommon in this house. I do notice however that it seems a little quieter in here than usual. Normally I would hear Emmett playing video games or the TV on or something.

As I slowly walked along in confusion I felt myself step on something soft and velvety. I look down and I see rose petals on the floor. I looked to where I was walking to and from and noticed that the rose petals made a path from my bedroom door. They were so numerous I wondered how I missed stepping on, or noticing, them before now.

I followed the path of rose petals all the way to the dining room. On the table were a couple of lit candles, since the only other light in the room came from the window, and a small vase that held another rose like the one in my hand. This rose was also red and had a red ribbon tied into a bow on the stem. I walked forward and placed the rose in my hand into the vase with the other one.

There was a silver plate cover in my place at the table and I hesitantly picked it up. Underneath it was another note. I placed the cover to the side and picked up the note. I unfolded it and read what it said.

'_This rose is to let you know that I am again thinking about you. To see your next surprise; just turn around._'

I was a bit reluctant to do so for because what good has come from someone telling you to turn around. I turned my head to the left to look over my shoulder. I didn't see anything so I turned completely around. However, as I turned around I saw Edward begin to walk toward me.

He was wearing vintage jeans with a white dress shirt that wasn't tucked in and a tie loose around his neck. It was a different look for him since usually he looks so clean cut. In his hands was a tray that had a plate and some glasses on it. "Well it's about time that you got up Sleeping Beauty," he said with a smile.

"Where are the others," I asked as he came to stand beside me and placed the tray down.

"They are out at the moment, but they will be back later tonight. It's just you and me right now," he said as he placed the things in my spot at the table. On the plate were small heart shaped pancakes that were arranged so that they formed a larger heart. There was whipped cream along the edge of the heart as a decorative border and in the middle E & C was written.

"I'm beginning to wonder if it's Valentine's Day or something," I said.

"It's not Valentine's Day but today is our date, which is why I am doing this. After work today I'm going to take you somewhere special," he said with that crooked grin of his. I could tell that he was nervous and unsure of how I would react so I have him a smile of assurance along with a small kiss on the cheek before I sat down in my chair which he had pulled out for me.

He watched as I ate my breakfast, occasionally offering me bites, during which we had light conversation. All the while he had a hold on my left hand with his thumb rubbing small circles across my knuckles and places a few kiss on the back of my hand every once in a while. After I finished eating my fill of what he prepared he took the dirty dishes into the kitchen. When he came back he took my hand and led me to the living room where we danced to the music for a while. All too soon I had to get ready for work and leave his embrace.

I went up to my room, took a quick shower, brushed my teeth, changed and put my hair up. Edward drove me to work and before I got out he gave me a kiss that I wish didn't have to end. I reluctantly pulled away and entered the café.

Business was slow today, most likely because it was a Sunday. Some people stopped in after church. Some people came for the poetry corner that was held. Some people came in to have coffee and talk with other people. All in all a very slow day and since it was mainly an older crowd than usual I didn't have to clean up many messes, just clean tables and collect dirty dishes.

At three o'clock I heard Megan call for me. "Hey Carrie, there is someone here with a delivery for you." I walked to the front table and there was a guy holding a small vase of roses. I signed for them and he gave them to me.

I sat the vase on the table so I could read the card. '_Just letting you know that I'm still thinking about you; one for every hour that you have been gone and one for me thinking of you now. Edward.'_

I smiled and put the card back. Of course the other women that I worked with gushed at the flowers and wanted to know what the card said, stuff like that. Megan said that it was okay for me to leave the flowers where they were. The rest of the day went the same as usual. I also found out that on Sunday nights was speed dating, so some singles were starting to come in around the time for me to get off.

There was this one guy with blond hair and blues eyes that kept watching me. It was more like leering really and it was more than a bit creepy. I felt his eyes on me where ever I went. I was cleaning the last few tables when he came up to me. He was around 5'7" and lean from what I could tell and was around 25 years of age. "Hi, my name is Phil. What's yours beautiful," he asked in a cocky way with I guess what was his 'winning smile' on his face.

"Carrie," I replied unsure. I still wasn't very use to being hit on by men and when I was it made me uncomfortable. There was something about him as well that caused a chill to run down my spine, and not the good kind either for it felt like my hair was standing on end. I just had a feeling that I should stay away from him.

"How about you be my date for the night; we could go see a movie or something," he asked with all the confidence of a playboy as he leaned closer to me and placed his hand on the table next to us. This was another thing that made me more wary about him. I felt like he was trying to corner me or something.

"Sorry but…" I began nervously while I tried to look anywhere but him. There is just something about this guy that made me want to run as fast as I could in the opposite direction of him.

"…she already has plans for the evening," Edward said in a hard way as he came up beside me and wrapped his arm around me and I immediately relaxed in his arms. His timing couldn't have been more perfect even if it was planned. Edward always seemed to know just when I needed him; probably due to his gift.

"Ah Eddie this is Phil. Phil this is my boyfriend Edward," I introduced them. Phil looked Edward as if sizing him up and after a few seconds he seemed to pale before he turned around and went back to his table. Talk about a tail between the legs retreat.

"Are you ready to go," Edward asked me while keeping an eye on Phil.

"Just let me sign out and get my things. Thank you for the roses by the way, they were lovely," I said then I placed a kiss on his cheek before I turned and left.

I came out with my things and picked up my roses. Edward was waiting outside the door and he walked me to his Volvo. He opened to door for me to get in then he got in and we headed back to the house.

"I didn't like that guy," Edward said clearly that mans thoughts were less then innocent toward me.

"Neither did I, he gave me the creeps," I replied with a slight shudder. Again I was thankful that Edward was there for me.

"So I'm your boyfriend now," he asked me trying to appear nonchalant about it.

"Well you are taking me on a date and that usually implies that we are involved so I say yes you are my boyfriend," I replied giving him a smile. He grabbed my hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. He did not agree nor did he disagree, so did that mean he was ok with me calling him that? I am really not good at this dating thing.

When we got back to the house I went up to my room to change while Edward waited for me in the living room. I changed in to a black pair of jeans, a white tank top under a white blouse with a green v-neck sweater on top of that. I brushed out my hair and pulled the top half back into a braid. I applied some pink lip gloss and some light green eye shadow.I met up with Edward and we headed back to his car which was outside the front door. Before I got in the car however he took a red ribbon and tied it over my eyes. I was nervous about his actions but assured me that everything would fine. He helped me into the car and we left to where ever he was taking me to.

I wasn't sure how long we drove for, but I eventually felt the car come to a stop. I heard Edward get something out of the trunk of the car then he was helping me get out of the car.

He pulled me onto his back and gave me something to hold on to. After I grabbed hold of what felt like a handle of some sort I felt him grab hold of my legs and I felt the wind rush through my hair. Again I was insure of how long we traveled, it felt like it took some time yet none at all at the same time. I did notice though that the wind seemed to get a little stronger and the air felt heavy with moisture.

After the ride Edward took whatever I was holding out of my hands and set me down. He told me not to move from where I was standing then I heard him move something around and mumble something quietly. I felt him come around behind me soon after the quiet noises stopped.

"Ready," he whispered in my ear. I nodded yes. I felt him tug the ribbon free and I blinked my eyes to adjust my vision. We were up high on a cliff that over looked the ocean. There was a short wall around us that appeared to be freshly made from rocks and tree branches that blocked the wind from battering our forms. The wall had flowers placed on it like decoration. The wall itself surrounded a red and white checkered picnic blanket and in the center of the blanket was a small basket. "Do you like it," Edward asked as he wrapped his arms around me.

"It's beautiful," I responded breathily while leaning back against him. He let go of me and walked toward the basket. He opened up one end, reached in and pulled out another bouquet of roses. These brought the total up to a dozen roses. I took the roses from him and sampled their sweet fragrance.

Edward motioned for me to sit down, which I did, and he sat down next to me. "For your dining pleasure milady I have sparkling water," he said as he pulled a bottle of water out. "I also have an assortment of fruit such as grapes, melons, and strawberries," he continued, bringing out said items. "And to add some sweetness I have cream," he said as he pulled out a small tub of cool whip.

"And just in case I brought these too," he said as he brought out a camera and my sketch book with colored pencils. He was so thoughtful, bringing something that I might want, which he was right about. I wanted to someway have this ingrained forever in my memory so I could never forget it.

"Wow I think that you thought of everything except music," I said astonished at the thought that he put into this. In the back of my mind I was thinking that he didn't have to do this, he didn't have to try and impress me or anything. I am happy with the way that he is. Of course he could be doing all of this so he could be more comfortable since he was born in another time.

"Are you sure about that," he asked as he brought out an iPod and speakers and set them on top of the closed basket. He set the iPod to play random songs then sat close to me with his arm around me.

He grabbed the bowl that had the grapes and held them in front of me. I grabbed a small branch of grapes and held them in my left hand. I slowly plucked one grape off at a time and popped them into my mouth.

As I finished eating the grapes I heard one of my favorite songs start to play. I placed the bare stem down and I stood up. Edward looked at me funny as I held my hand down to him.

_What stations are the buttons on your radio on_

_Do you sleep late Saturdays or get up at dawn?_

"I love this song and I want to dance to it," I said shaking my hand at him again to tell him to take it.

_Do you prefer fiddles or violins_

_and have you given any thoughts to how a lifetime of love begins_

Edward got up, wrapped his right arm around me and held my right hand with a mumbled, "Isn't it the guy that is supposed to ask the girl to dance?" Then we began to move to the music (I want to know (everything there is about you) by Mark Wills.)

_I want to know everything there is to know_

_About what turns you on what you like and what you don't_

_Tell me all your secrets, all your hopes and wishes too_

_I want to be everything you ever want_

_So I'm gonna need something to go on_

_I mean to make your every dream come true_

_So I want to know everything there is to know about you_

A smile spread across my face as the chorus came across. One started to appear on

Edward's as well as he watched me. This song was spot on. I felt just like this, I wanted to everything there is to know about Edward. The good, the bad, and the ugly, I wanted to know it all. I wanted to know how he ticked. How someone as perfect as him could want someone as marred and imperfect as me. (I didn't know that Edward's thoughts were very similar to my own.)

_Do you like walking underneath the moonlight_

_Is there some kind of magic that'll make the moon right_

_How many kisses, how many stars_

_I'm determined to keep trying 'til I find the way to your heart_

When the next verse came across again I sang along. Closing my eyes and leaning my head against his chest I allowed the song to consume me as I sang it to him. I pulled away and stared deep into his smoldering gaze as I tried to put everything I felt into the chorus.

_I want to know everything there is to know_

_About what turns you on what you like and what you don't_

_Tell me all your secrets, all your hopes and wishes too_

_I want to be everything you ever want_

_So I'm gonna need something to go on_

_I mean to make your every dream come true_

_So I want to know everything there is to know about you_

Edward's smile got larger as I sang along. Seeing his smile I was practically grinning as I continued to sing along with the song. He was so beautiful when he smiled. Heck he is even beautiful when he broods.

_The serious stuff and the light-hearted_

_I look in your eyes and I'm just getting started _

_I want to know everything there is to know_

_About what turns you on what you like and what you don't_

_Tell me all your secrets, all your hopes and wishes too_

_I want to be everything you ever want_

_So I'm gonna need something to go on_

_I mean to make your every dream come true_

_So I want to know everything there is to know about you _

_Well, I want to know everything there is to know about you_

When we finished I gave Edward a kiss and thanked him for the dance. We sat back down and he handed me the melon bowl next. I grabbed a slice of cantaloupe and cuddled into his side. I have never had a first date before, but I could not image one better than this.

"Are you enjoying yourself," Edward asked his eyes shining as he watched me enjoy his efforts.

"Yeah but it might be more fun if you could eat something," I said. As soon as I spoke he grabbed a small strawberry. I stopped him before he could put it in his mouth. I took it from him and I leaned across his lap to dip the strawberry into the cream.

I turned so that I was facing him right in front of his lap and I held the strawberry up to his mouth. He pulled me into his lap so that I ended up straddling his lap with my legs on either side of his hips, practically around his waist. His hands were on my waist holding me close to him.

I could tell I was blushing real bad but I held the morsel up for him to eat anyways. He grabbed it with his teeth and his tongue brushed against my fingers. I watched him as he slowly chewed them swallowed. I looked up into his eyes then to find him staring at me intently.

He leaned closer to me, our noses within an inch of the others'. Not that we weren't close enough already, and I leaned back a bit. He looked away and I did too; I could feel my entire face burning. He leaned back and brought me closer to him. He then held up a strawberry covered in cream up to my lips.

I looked from it to him and I got trapped in his gaze. I felt the cool cream against my bottom lip and I shyly opened my mouth, still lost in his eyes. He moved a bit closer so that our faces were inches from each other as I took a bite.

As I took a bite felt some juice ran down my chin; his eyes were drawn to it. He took his finger and stopped it before it could travel down my neck. He moved his finger to his mouth and licked off the juice while staring me in the eye.

He held the strawberry up for me to take another bite. I took another bite and another trail of juice followed the previous path. I could feel a blush spread across my face at the look he was giving me and of my messy eating. He then slowly moved closer and bent his head down to my neck. I then felt his tongue run up the path that was left by the juice.

His tongue ran up tantalizing slow. It felt as though someone was dragging an ice cube across my skin yet a trail of fire was left in its wake. When he reached my lips he pulled away slightly. He was just far enough away to offer me the last bite of the strawberry. He popped the last bite in my mouth and watched as I ate it.

I felt some whipped cream at the corner of my mouth and I darted my tongue out to get it. Apparently Edward had the same idea because our tongues ran against each other. I couldn't prevent the shiver that traveled down my spine as my eyes slid close in pleasure at the sensation.

We leaned away from each other but we slowly came back together like magnets in a kiss. It started off soft but it soon began to build up. I felt myself being lowered on to my back with Edward over top of me.

I felt his hand bury in my hair as the kiss became a little deeper. I slowly brought mine up to run through his hair. I couldn't prevent the small moan that escaped my lips. Edward pulled away slightly and I could feel his lips slightly brush against mine for it left my lips tingling since they were so sensitive.

He leaned back then started his assault of my lips again. The fruit was forgotten. The only thing that I needed then was him. He was doing things to me that I have never felt before. Making me tingle in places I didn't think I could.

He slowly pulled away and waited for me to catch my breath. "You have no idea how much I want you right now," he said his voice deeper and a bit husky. He lowered his head and I could feel his lips move softly down the column of my neck. I stiffened slightly at his words and at what felt like his teeth gently drag across my skin. I found myself wondering if he was going to bite me. I didn't want him to, at least not yet. For him to change me as I am now, as in not on my death bed, made me feel as if there was something inferior about me that he was going to correct by changing me.

"Want as in what, sex," I asked he simply nodded as he continued to inhale my scent while occasionally placing soft kisses along my throat. "Do you love me?"

"Yes, more than I have ever thought possible; I want you to stay next to me so that I can always protect you, so I can always make sure you are happy. I want to always hold you in my arms," he replied after brought his head up and looked deeply into my eyes. I felt his hand cupping my cheek and hid thumb stroking the area under my eye. "Do you love me?"

I thought it over and I remembered that night I spent with Alice when we were camping. I thought over that night and other times that I have spent with him and I decided what I was going to do. I looked up and noticed that Edward was looking at me with a slightly worried expression, taking my silence as rejection.

I reached up and pulled him into a kiss, which he immediately responded to. I pulled away and asked, "Does that answer your question," with a soft smile on my face. His response was a bright smile and a soul searing kiss.

The kiss got more demanding but I stopped him before it went too far. "Wait Edward, we can't do this." He pulled back with a questioning look. I noticed that his eyes were a pitch black in color compared to the usual golden brown.

"Why not," he asked. I let out a sigh. His hunger must be affecting his judgment. (The question is what sort of hunger is it.)

"Well for one we are outside '_not that that bothers me much'_. Two this is only the first date," I said with a small laugh. "Three I don't think I'm ready. I haven't done this before and I'm only seventeen. I'm still in school and," I paused.

"And," he questioned wanting to hear what I have to say.

"Well I'm more traditional, old fashioned if you will. I believe that that should only happen between a husband and wife. I don't want to pressure you into anything. Besides you probably want to find a nice woman vampire and settle down with her, maybe start your own clan."

"But I want you," he insisted.

"I'm only human Edward. I don't want you to feel as though you have to be careful around me. I don't like being treated like I'm delicate. I've lived too harsh a life to be treated like that. How long will I be around for? I'll be happy with whatever time I have been given to be with you, but what happens if I leave? What happens if I die before you can save me? What if something prevents us from being together," I asked. I didn't want to bring it up because I hate thinking about it, but it has to be said. Before we go any farther in our relationship there are things that must be considered.

"I'll find you," he said. "I'll find a way to find you and bring you back to me. Even if I have to wait for your soul to come back reincarnated, I'll find you, just don't doubt me,"

"I don't," I replied but I don't think he understands that even if he did find my reincarnated soul it would not be me. A soul sustains the body, but it is experiences that make you who you are. He swooped down and kissed me as if he was putting everything he felt into it. I responded with the same intensity.

I wasn't sure how long we continued our actions but I didn't want it to end. I wanted to continue where we left off, go farther, do more, but I couldn't, not yet. I felt so loved and cherished, something that I always secretly wished to feel my whole life. He occasionally pulled away and trailed kisses across my jaw and down my neck, but he reclaimed my lips soon after.

He pulled away. "That reminds me," he said. He got off of me and started to dig around in the basket. I sat up and straightened myself out and zipped my coat back up. After a few minutes of searching he pulled something out with a triumphant ah ha.

He came back over and sat next to me. He handed me a small rectangular box that had a small bow on it. I took it from him giving both a curious look. "Open it," he said.

I turned to the box held in my left hand and grabbed the lid with my right. I then slowly lifted the lid back. I almost dropped it in surprise but I just settled for a gasp.

There in the box was gold necklace, but what drew my attention was what was hanging from the chain. The pendant or charm, whatever you want to call it, that was gold like the chain. It was made to resemble dolphins. They were facing each other with the tips of their noses touching as well as their tails. They had small diamonds for the eyes. Held by their fins between them in the center was a blue topaz gem in the shape of a heart. Even in the overcast it seemed to dazzle and shine.

"Do you like it," Edward asked as he pulled me to his side.

"I love it, it's so beautiful, and the dolphins. Oh Eddie I love it," I said as I turned to give him a kiss. He pulled away and took the box from me. He took the necklace out and moved so that he was behind me. I watched as the necklace came down in front of me and felt it tighten around my neck and hair. I felt him grasp my hair and pull it free from the necklace.

I reached for the pendant which hung a couple of inches below my collar bone. I felt Edward's arms wrap around me as he pulled me back into his lap. I leaned into his chest and enjoyed the view.

I grabbed my sketch book and began to draw the view and I took a couple of pictures. I tried to take a picture of us together, but with the disposable camera I'm not sure how it came out. As I was sketching Edward would feed me some fruit. He even took one of the roses and some other flowers that had blown free and tucked them into my hair at the beginning of the braid.

All too soon it was time to go for it was a little after seven. We packed up and Edward again put me on his back with me holding the basket. I could see why he had the blind fold on me as we came up because the first step was to jump off the cliff on to the path below. I let out a small cheer as we 'fell'.

When we got back to the house Alice immediately bombarded me with questions about the date. I told her that I really enjoyed it and was looking forward to the next one. I saw Edward freeze at that and I let out a small laugh and told him that he didn't have to worry about it.

I headed to my room and took a shower. I took my necklace off before hand and put it back on immediately afterwards. After that I headed to the dining room for dinner where Emmett noticed my necklace and asked about it. I told them that Edward gave it to me and Emmett clapped him on the back while picking fun.

After that I hung out with the family in the living room until about nine thirty or so when I decided that I should leave if I'm ever going to get going. They started pouting and said that I didn't have to leave that I could stay with them. I joked that if I stayed they would soon be begging to get rid of me, especially if Emmett and I began one of our wars again.

It was with a heavy heart that I left the Cullen home to return to my dreary den. Edward decided to walk with me to make sure that I arrived safely. It was a long quiet walk and Edward was holding my hand. I noticed that it was beginning to get colder so I made a mental note to start stock piling wood. The Cullen's said that they would provide the food.

We eventually arrived at my address and he walked with me back to my den. Luckily no one was home yet. Edward went into the den first to check it out. He came back with an all clear. I crawled into my den and headed over to my bed. The fire had already been started so I didn't have to worry about that.

I noticed some changes had been made while I was gone. The den looked more like an

underground room. Wood had been wedged up to form walls and ceiling and the entrance was bigger. There were a couple of bed rolls and sleeping bags for my bed. It seemed to be bigger too. Edward came in and sat down next to me.

"You don't have to stay here," I said knowing that I cannot offer more comfortable accommodations.

Edward replied with a, "I want to and I'm going to." I shrugged and crawled into the blankets. I felt Edward lay down behind me and wrap his arm around me. We exchanged good nights and I love you's before I started to drift off to sleep.

Before I fell asleep though I started to softly sing/mumble the song that we danced to; I heard Edward let out a small laugh and I did too. He tightened his grip on me and told me to get to sleep. I snuggled deeper into him and the blankets before I drifted off to sleep with a smile of pure happiness and content on my face.

WELL THERE YOU HAVE IT ANOTHER CHAPTER OF LOST AND FOUND, WE ARE ABOUT HALF WAY THROUGH NOW AND I HOPE THAT I AM STILL DOING A GOOD JOB. THE CHAPTERS ARE ON THE SHORT, BUT STILL GOOD SIDE BUT I THINK THE OVER ALL LENGTH OF THE STORY MORE THAN MAKES UP FOR IT.

IT BEGINS - 10

DARKEST DAYS - 9

THERE IS STILL TIME TO VOTE, IF YOU HAVE VOTED ALREADY YOU CAN VOTE AGAIN.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO **TRIFORCEANDSHIKAHARTS** AND **OCEANICEAGLE** FOR REVIEWING. AND THANK YOU TO **YELLOW-PHOENIX25** FOR SIGNING UP FOR MY STORY ALERT LIST.

WELL I CAN'T REALLY THINK OF ANYTHING MORE TO SAY AT THE MOMENT SO I GUESS THAT I'LL JUST GET TO THE CHAPTER. SORRY IF THIS ISN'T AS GOOD AS THE OTHERS AGAIN, JUST LEADING UP TO MORE EXCITEMENT LATER ON.

I do not own Rascal Flatts I'll be Home for Christmas.

Chapter 21 The Holidays Are Coming

Carrie's POV

It has been a little over a week since my date with Edward and every night since then he has stayed with me. Alice has even stayed over a couple of times. He leaves when I get up then comes back in different clothes, and occasionally clothes for me if I forget them the night before, breakfast and hot chocolate then he leaves again. I walk a short distance down the road and meet up with him and he drives me to school. He does this so he isn't seen by Thom or Liz.

You could tell that it was December because the air was cooler and crisper. Edward has been bringing me more sweaters and layers. He has even brought me a warmer jacket, hat and the gloves that Rosalie gave me after Halloween. I take a more indirect route to the road so Thom and Liz don't see the clothes that I am wearing. I know that with Edward's speed it wouldn't be any problem, but we do this just to be on the safe side, for I never know if they, Thom and Liz, are going to be watching me.

The atmosphere at school has become more merry and cheerful with the holidays just around the corner. We still have another two weeks until winter break. The Cullen's and I are hoping that we can spend it together but Thom and Liz haven't made any mention about leaving yet and I'm not sure if my step siblings, Howard and Helen, are coming to visit or not.

Currently we were outside by the cars before the start of school. I was sitting on Edward's lap as he was sitting on the low wall in the parking lot playing chess with Jasper with a small magnetic chess set. It was something that we have in common and have bonded over. Alice was sitting in his lap and Emmett and Rose were watching us play.

The first bell rang and we headed to class. Edward walked with me to my locker and class as usual. Before he left he gave me a kiss and gave me a slight push into the class room. I took my seat and started to finger the necklace that he gave me, a new habit of mine especially when he is not around me. I'm always wearing it; I only take it off when I bathe and during gym since no jewelry is allowed.

School has been going on much the same as usual. I'm always walked to all my classes by at least one Cullen. Sometimes Jasper and I will play chess during lunch, I'm not the greatest player but he says that I do quite well for a beginner. We always leave school after gym to do our homework at home. Emmett and I got into little spats at least three times a week during this time.

It was lunch time now and Alice and Emmett were surprisingly not present. Usually we all get to the cafeteria at the same time. Edward and I are the only ones who are ever late and that is because he waits for me when I'm finishing up a test.

"Where are they," I asked curiously as I looked toward the entrance. Lunch is about half over and they still haven't shown up yet.

"Right behind you Carrie," I heard from behind me. Since we have been hanging out so much we all moved to the Cullen's old table. Our backs were to the wall and we could see what everyone was doing. But Emmett can still manage to sneak up on me.

I turned around and there was Emmett standing right behind me. "There's the bear but where is the pixie," I said still not seeing her.

"I'm right here Kit," Alice said from in front of the table. She was still testing out nicknames for me. Now she's trying kit because that is what baby foxes are called, since she has determined that I'm like a fox, and considering my age compared to how long she has been around I am a baby to her.

She had a smile on her face like always but she had a different twinkle in her eyes than usual. I looked at the others and noticed that they were staring at me with a small smile on their faces. I look at them in confusion wondering why they were staring at me. I looked at Edward and noticed that he too was staring at me with a smile.

I was starting to panic a little bit because I didn't know why they were staring at me. '_Do I have something on my face?' _I looked back at Emmett again since he was still behind me. He was looking at me and looked like he was about to start laughing. It was then that I noticed that he was holding his arm out.

I followed the length of his arm to his hand. There I noticed that he was holding something in his hand. It was green, plant like and had a couple of berries and a ribbon. I looked down at Edward and noticed that he was looking at me with a bigger smile. I kept looking back and forth between them wondering what the heck that it was. I could feel the smiles on the others faces grow bigger.

Then it dawned on me then what it was. Emmett was holding mistletoe and it was between Edward and me. It didn't bother me to kiss Edward, our behavior lately will attest to that. This was different however; this was mistletoe, a Christmas kiss.

I could feel myself start to blush. I still do that even though Edward always kisses me and I him, but I can't help it I'm still so shy and bashful. I look up at Alice and she was giving me the sign to go ahead and do it. I'm a little hesitant because I have a weird feeling and as I've said before I always follow my gut.

I looked back to Edward and I noticed that he has moved closer while my attention was someplace else. I take another glance up at the mistletoe and let a small smile come to my face as I let out a sigh. I lean forward to Edward and he leans toward me.

We met in a gentle kiss that most likely lasted longer than it should have. I hear a click and I pull away and there was Alice with a camera. "I thought that I was the one obsessed with pictures," I mumbled. They just chuckled at me and Edward placed he arm around my shoulders and placed a kiss on my cheek.

In gym we finished the first volleyball tournament and our team won. When the next one starts Alice, Rosalie and I will form one team and Edward, Emmett and Jasper will form the other. After class we headed home.

During the short time that I have been spending with them we have been decorating the house for the holidays. The other day we all went out and got a Christmas tree. Esme was determined to make this Christmas special since it will be basically my first Christmas ever as well as with them.

Today we were putting the finishing touches on the trees. First however Alice wanted to show me something in my room. Yesterday when we were putting lights up I told her how I always loved Christmas lights and that they were my favorite part of the holidays. (What I have experienced of it that is.)

She covered my eyes as we came to my closed door and walked me through after I heard the door open. On the count of three she removed her hands and I looked at my room. I was shocked. From my ceiling were the icicle lights in mainly white color with some green and blue. There were lights hanging from my canopy bed and around my window.

"It's so pretty Alice, now my room looks like something out of a dream even more," I told her as I gave her a hug. I am still a little overwhelmed with everything they do for me.

"I wasn't the only one involved in it. Emmett and Jasper gave me a hand as well," she said as both boys came into my room. I went over to both of them and gave them a hug and a small peck on the cheek. Lately Jasper has been getting more comfortable with me but he is still really quiet. I'm quiet like him so we understand each other.

We head back down to the living room so we can finish the tree. Carlisle has been coming home early so he can also participate. All that is left to do is put on ornaments and other decorations, the tinsel then the star on top. While we were decorating we listened to Christmas songs. Currently is one of my favorites is playing; Rascal Flatts I'll be Home for Christmas. I was humming along with the song when Alice said, "You sing quite well. Why don't you sing the song?"

I was kind of startled when she said that. I love to sing or sing along to music, and I'm just so comfortable around them that I sometimes forget that they are there. So I begin to sing which I don't like doing in front of people and I end up being caught. "How about I just continue to sing along," I suggested because the idea of actually singing in front of people, even though they are seen as family, scares me somewhat.

"How about you sing along with this song then you sing one by yourself," Esme suggested. I looked at her then the others who were watching me expectantly. I sigh and dropped my head in defeat. Alice let out a cheerful sound then jumped on me in a hug. They headed over to sit on the sofas and I sat down next to Alice. Edward went over and set the CD to play my favorite song again and sat down next to me. I crossed my arms and legs, lowered my head and closed my eyes so that it would only be me and the music. When the song started I began to sing. I concentrated on trying to match the pitch but also let it be natural.

I think that I did a pretty good job matching the sound of three guys as I sang. It also helps that I just love the way that they did the song. As I finished the family applauded and cheered. Both Alice and Edward wrapped their arms around me. The song that I sang by myself was The First Noel, which I again got a round of applause. We finished most of the tress decorations by the time that I had to go to work. Edward drove me to work and picked me up.

As we walked through the door we had a surprise waiting for us. Apparently Esme had put some mistletoe up while I was gone and one of them was right over the door.

Everyone was standing there as we walked through and Alice immediately pointed it out.

So Edward and I went to kiss again; however, this wasn't the surprise. As we kissed we got attacked by Emmett and Rosalie. They began to spray us with silly string. I turned so I wouldn't get any in my face and got my hair covered with it. Everyone else was laughing at us and I turned a small glare toward Emmett and Rosalie. I slowly walked up to them and grabbed the cans out of their hands. I tossed one over my shoulder to Edward and started to shake the other one.

"Run," was the only warning I gave before I began to spray them. Edward and I would change who we would go after. First I went after Emmett but when our paths cross I would go after Rosalie while Edward went after Emmett.

During the process I saw a few flashes of light and figured that Alice was taking pictures again. We stopped when we ran out of silly string, but I was planning more revenge. I put my plan for vengeance into motion during dinner. I placed a whoopee cushion on Emmett's seat before anyone arrived in the dining room. Emmett always just plops into his seat after he pulls it out a bit without looking at it. But the plan went farther than that.

As planned Emmett came into the dining room, pulled his chair out and sat down without looking at his seat. He sat down upon the cushion and it made its typical sound.

Everyone's eyes widened and we turned to look at him. He immediately stood up and looked down at his chair.

However Edward used his speed to quickly grab the cushion before he could see it. Thankfully the others didn't seem to notice and if they did they didn't say anything. I had a hard time not laughing or showing any signs that I was involved. Oh where is that emotionless mask when I need it. I could feel the corners of my lips twitching, my face tightening up, my ears wiggling a little bit and the laughter building in my chest.

Emmett looked at his chair and didn't see anything so he sat down. Edward managed to but the cushion back before he sat down. This cushion was different this time though.

When Emmett sat down the normal sound occurred but there was an extra surprise. When the air was forced out so was the flour that I had Edward sneak from the kitchen that I put in there. So as he sat down a plume of flour shot out behind him. I was hoping to have that cushion used the third time that Emmett sat down but I didn't think I could get to three times. Emmett immediately stood up and looked down in his seat. The cushion was still there and he picked it up. He squeezed it and some flour flew into his face. I couldn't hold it in any longer and I burst out laughing.

Emmett looked at me and I was reminded of an angry grizzly. "HA ha, I got you," I said with a wide grin as I continued to chuckle.

"If this is for the mistletoe at school it wasn't my idea," he said with a slight pout.

"No this isn't for the mistletoe at school; this is for the silly string earlier," I told him. I could feel my 'mischievous grin' or as Alice calls it, my fox face, spreading across my face.

"But I wasn't the only one involved! Rosalie was in on it to. How come you aren't going after," he asked and whined at the same time.

I slowly turned toward Rosalie to find her looking at me with a slightly worried and curious expression. "Who said that I haven't already gotten her," I said looking her in the eye.

"But you haven't had any time. You were taking a bath for thirty minutes then sitting in the living room with us while Alice combed your hair and you finished your homework," she said; her voice getting slightly louder and hysteric.

"And who said I was taking a bath for that whole half hour," I questioned her. "What's to say if, oh I don't know, Edward took a really hot bath or messed with the water in my tub while I…went to your room and… maybe…messed around with your things?"

I watched as her eyes got bigger and she slowly stood up from her seat. She pushed it in and slowly started walking stiffly to the stairs. As she reached them she began to run up them and toward her room.

I stood up pushed my things over in front of Edward and held my hand up. I began to walk around the table while bringing my fingers down in a countdown. At three I sat in Edward lap and he placed his arms around me. Two I took a bit to eat of the lasagna that Esme made. At one I swallowed and at zero I pointed in the direction of Rosalie's room. As I pointed you could hear Rosalie let out a scream. "Better prepare yourselves Emmett, Jasper; you might want to cover your ears," I said as I took another bite. '_Oh how I wish I could see her face as she saw her room,_' I thought. Edward let out a chuckle at my thoughts.

Rosalie came down and stood where I was sitting earlier looking furious. Jasper was prepared for this so he wasn't overwhelmed and he tried to calm her down. Emmett was next to her incase he had to stop her from doing something she regretted later. After she calmed down she said, "You went through my things. You messed up the perfect order that everything was in. Do you realize how long it took me to get everything in order?" She placed her hands on the table and leaned toward me.

For your information Rosalie is a very tidy person, a neat freak when it comes to her room. She has absolutely everything in order. Her makeup is separated into what type, then color then shade. Her jewelry is in certain areas of her jewelry box. Her closet is categorized by type of clothes, style and color. Everything has its place in her room. While Edward was making it sound like I was taking a bath I snuck into her room and messed it up. (Since my scent was heavier in the bathroom, due to me being in the water, they couldn't tell that I left and would think nothing of a weaker scent of mine sneaking around.) By messing up I mean that I took it out of order. I scrambled her makeup, mixed up her closet and changed the way that they were hanged. Rosalie has her closet looking neat; I took stuff out and put it back in like I didn't care about it. I unmatched her underwear and socks and for the final touch I messed up her couch by moving the pillows and throws.

I clasped my hands in my lap then I looked up at her with the saddest look that I could make. My brow was wrinkled and slightly quivering, and water welled up in my eyes and a frown came across. As we started at each other longer I added a lip and chin quiver to the mix. That seemed to work for Rosalie started to look less angry and more worried that I was going to cry. "Well I guess I kind of deserve it, and you didn't mess my room up too bad," she said a bit reluctantly. I brightened and sent her a smile, which she half heartedly returned as she sat in my seat and Emmett sat next to her in her seat.

"Here I thought that I was the manipulator," I heard Jasper say. I turned to him and flashed him a smile and a peace sign. I was going to say something about don't overestimate the innocent looking quiet ones but I decided not to.

I saw a flash and I looked over to Alice who had taken yet another picture. She must have enough to fill like four large photo albums already. "Hold on to that Alice," I said as I got up from Edward's lap and walked over to stand behind Jasper. "Ready Alice," She nodded pointing the camera toward us.

I leaned down so that my head was closer to his. '_Okay act like you're in pain, that's how I heard others described Jasper, but I think that he looks more like he is trying to avoid the way that something smells. Oh well, tight, drawn face, eyes slightly wide, think 'Jasper mode'' _I thought. I could hear Edward chuckling at my thoughts. I put on my best Jasper face, I even tried to make my hair messy like his, but it was just too heavy due to the length, and Alice took the picture. Afterwards Edward pulled me back into his lap and I continued my supper.

Before I left I helped Rosalie straighten out her room and we finished decorating the tree. The tree that Carlisle bought was ten and a half feet tall and around four to six feet or so wide at the bottom. (The base was wide enough where the tree looked tall but not too tall, but it didn't look fat either.) There were lights, ornaments, garland, tinsel and ribbon, the only thing left was the star. The star was gold and had four main 'compass' points and four smaller points between them with 'rays' coming from it and was quite large; the base was a foot long to support the weight.

"Why don't you put the star on Carrie," Carlisle said as he held it toward me. I looked at him with wide disbelieving eye, but he just gave me a reassuring smile. I gently grasped the star and held it to my chest. Edward then picked me up and placed my feet on Emmett's shoulders. Emmett was knelt down so I could stand on him easier. He grabbed hold of me and I felt Edward's hands on my back to steady me as Emmett slowly stood up.

When Emmett was standing he slowly walked toward the tree and kept hold of me so I wouldn't fall. He got as close to the tree as he could but I still had to lean forward. When I was sure of my balance I slowly stretched my arms forward so I could grasp the top of the tree. Holding the tree in my left hand and the star in my right, I slowly moved them was a couple of times that I thought that I was going to fall or drop the star but Emmett steadied me and I tightened my grip in the base. After a short struggle to get the star on all the way Emmett (and I) stepped away to admire our work.

I felt him grab my ankles then toss me into the air. I was quite use to him tossing me around; besides, I thought that it was fun. As I was going up I crossed my arms across my chest and crossed my legs at the ankle. As I was coming down I brought my legs up and leaned back like I was going to lie down. Like every other time I landed in Edward's arms. He set me down but kept his arm around me.

"What do you think Carrie," he said looking down at me.

"It's perfect," I said as I took in the sight of the Christmas tree. My first Christmas tree and it is everything that I thought that it would be; in fact it is better than I could ever imagine.

"Hey guys look, it's snowing," Alice called to us from the window. We all headed to the window and sure enough it was snowing. It wasn't heavy but a nice gentle snow fall.

We stood there until I gasped then looked at my watch; it was nearing eleven thirty. I was really late to getting back home. Edward realizing too what time it was ran up to my room and came back with my things. He grabbed me and carried me toward the house. He dropped me off with my things at the end of the driveway and I walked down it like I was just coming home from work. Thankfully the porch light was off and I let out a sigh of relief. _'Thank God they don't know that I'm late coming back. I would hate to see what they would do if they knew,_' I thought. I slowly walked back to then den like I was exhausted just in case they were watching.

I saw light coming out of the entrance of the den so I knew that Edward must have started the fire. I left my bag outside in the outdoor shelter and crawled down the hole. Edward was there sitting on the opposite side of the fire from where my bed was, stoking it so that it would burn bigger and warm up the den. I took my shoes off and went over to my bedding and rearranged my blankets. I took off the old clothes I was wearing to reveal the sweats that I was wearing underneath. They were again actually Edwards but he seems to like it when I wear them and he has never said anything against it. Edward came over and sat behind me with his arms around me and his forehead in the crook of my neck.

We just sat there in silence not saying anything. I was staring into the fire and Edward was holding my hands and running his thumbs across my knuckles. After a while he broke the silence by telling me that I ought to get some sleep, it was after midnight. We both got off of my bedding and I pulled it back and crawled in. Edward lay down on his back and I lay on my right side so I could face him and my back was to the fire. Edward pulled the blankets up to my shoulders and pulled me to him. I place my head on his chest over his non-beating heart and wrapped my arm around him. He wrapped his left arm around me and held both of my hands; the one on my side and the one that he placed on his chest. After a few minutes I fell asleep in his arms.

Edward's POV

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I'm going to break some bad news to Carrie. Alice had a vision that we were going to have some slightly unwelcome visitors coming soon and Carlisle received a letter to prove it. The letter was from Aro of the Volturi. In the letter he states that him and a few other of his 'associates' would be coming for a visit during the holidays; it didn't mention how long they would be staying for. Aro says that he misses Carlisle and would like to spend some time catching up and that there is some business he would like to discuss with our coven.

The letter also states that he and his company will be arriving the week after next. That means that after this week Carrie cannot come over to our house and we will have to clean to make sure that her scent is gone. We don't want to take the chance that they will go after her. We also don't want her there if they decide to come early. We don't want her to get harmed by anyone or anything and she is already in trouble for just knowing about our existence.

Thinking of all the things that could happen if they hear of her or she comes in contact with them causes me to tighten my grip around her. She has been hurt so much in her life and I don't want to be the cause of her pain. Thankfully she hasn't been bugging me about changing her so we could be together forever like Bella did. She is happy just to be with me as she is. She truly is a wonderful person with a beautiful soul.

I push the negative thoughts out of my mind and close my eyes to rest. Just because I don't sleep doesn't mean that I can't rest in a way. It is more like a meditation, my mind wonders and I can think more clearly and gain any energy that I may have lost. It helps keep me calm and with Carrie's scent it is like I'm in a meadow during a spring rain.

I look down at her for a moment and notice that the pendant that I gave her is lying on my chest, just below her chin. I feel happy, proud and perhaps a bit smug that she likes my gift so much. I have noticed that she is always wearing it. Even when she wears other necklaces I can see its chain leading underneath her shirt. I smile and close my eyes to wait for morning.

I can hear the birds start chirping so I know sunrise must be coming soon. It's a good thing that I don't sleep because Carrie forgot to set her watch alarm and has slept in. I hear a noise outside so I sit up to greet whoever is coming. A few moments later in comes Alice holding a container that had a small thermos cup on top of it.

"Morning Edward, I see that Carrie has slept in. She forgot to set her alarm hasn't she," Alice said quietly.

I nodded and turned to wake her up. I grab her shoulder and gently shake her. After a few shakes she turns over on her back to look at me. She looks so cute when she first gets up with the way that her hair looks and her sleep filled eyes. She sits up, runs her hand through her hair then looks at her watch. Her eyes widen when she sees what time it is but she just seems to shrug it off. I could hear her sleepy and muddled thoughts of _'with speedy…can't be late. Still enough time…drive'_.

"Go on Edward, I'll get her ready while you go home," Alice said shooing me out of the den. I nodded to her placed a kiss on Carrie's head then turn around to leave. Once I get outside I notice that about a foot of snow has fallen over night. I head home, shower to get the dirt off of me then change. I meet everyone else in the living room and we head to our cars.

We drive more slowly since the roads are covered in snow and our tires are spinning and there is so much snow. Both Rosalie, who was driving a different vehicle than her BMW, and I parked along side of the road to wait for Carrie. A couple of minutes later first Alice then shortly after Carrie comes into our sight heading our way. Alice has a hold of Carrie's bag and what I presume her breakfast. Carrie, looking a bit more awake is bundled in the jacket that I gave her, which used to be mine, holding the hot chocolate in her hands. They both get into my Volvo and we head to school.

In the parking lot we sit in our cars and Carrie eats her breakfast. When she is done I put my seat back a little bit and pull her over to my seat. The others come in and have a seat with us in the Volvo; it's time that we tell Carrie the bad news. We sat there wondering how we were going to start and who was going to be the first to speak. (Emmett was in the front and Jasper and Rosalie are in the back with Alice.)

"If you guys, and gals, have something to say you should just say it," Carrie said. She was looking down at the cup that she was holding in her hands.

"Well we kind of have some bad news," I began slowly.

"Oh," she questioned in a steady tone. So far so good I guess.

"Well Carlisle received a letter from an old 'friend' of his. You remember what I told you of the Volturi, right," I asked. At her nod I continued. "Well Aro, one of the Volturi, wrote to Carlisle explaining that he and a few of his associates would be coming to visit us during the holidays."

"And for your own protection you can't come over to our home any time during break. It would probably be best that you don't come home anytime after this week or even tonight, that would give us time to wash your scent off of everything," Emmett said.

"Like washing away any existence that I have had there," Carrie said quietly, still not looking up from her drink.

"Kind of, we need to get rid of your scent because if Aro or any of his followers know about you, they will come after you. It is considered a crime that you know about what we are and what the Volturi are, a crime that we have informed you of the existence of those such as ourselves. They will either kill you or change you, but most likely kill you and maybe us for breaking the laws," Rosalie said seriously.

"What about my room? It will be kind of hard to get rid of that," Carrie asked as she looked up at us. I was uncertain about how she is taking this news, her eyes have darkened slightly and her thoughts are not very forthcoming either.

"We'll cleanse every last bit of it, take your name off, put up storage sign and lock it. We'll say that it is a storage room that is just full of junk," Jasper said.

It was silent as we allowed her to process what we said. "How long will they be here for," she asked as she looked down at her hands which were tightly clenched around the thermos she was holding.

"We're not sure," I replied, uncertain of what to say, "but we will come and get you as soon as it is safe."

Again we were quiet as she thought it over. "So I guess…" she began as she looked up, "that we just have to enjoy what time we have left with each other don't we." she finished with a smile.

We all smiled back. We knew that she would understand the situation. "I'll just have to stock pile on food to last during the break," she said. We got out of the car so no one will see us all piled into my Volvo.

For the rest of the week Carrie was glued to one of our sides and Carlisle picked her up from work so he would get some time with her even though we all went to Maria's when she worked. We took a bunch of clothes over and left them in her den so she would have something decent to wear. When we were at home Esme was doting all over her, treating her like a little child that was getting ready for their first day of school. She even fixed Carrie her favorite diner of hickory smoked/ honey cured ham with a raisin sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans with chopped bacon and onions in it. We even all stayed the night in Carrie's den with her, but I got the last night all to myself.

LETS SEE TITLE POLL IT BEGINS IS IN THE LEAD FOLLOWED BY DARKEST DAYS. NOT SURE WHAT THE ACTUALY TOTAL IS. IT BEGINS IS ONE MORE THAN LAST TIME. OF COURSE AS THE AUTHOR I LIKE THEM BOTH SO I CAST A VOTE FOR BOTH AT THE END WHEN THE POLL IS CLOSED. SO VOTE VOTE VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE. CAN VOTE ONE TIME PER CHAPTER. HOPEFULY MORE PEOPLE WILL REVIEW OR MORE POEPLE THAT HAVE REVIEWED BUT HAVEN'T DONE SO LATELY WILL NOW. WELL UNTIL NEXT TIME. SORRY IF THIS CHAPTER ISN'T ALL THAT GREAT IT IS JUST THE ENDING THAT IS IMPORTANT.


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

**OKAY OKAY OKAY HERE I AM WITH THE NEXT CHAPTER. AND A HEADS UP THIS WILL BE THE LAST CHAPTER THAT YOU CAN VOTE FOR A TITLE. THE RESULTS WILL BE SHOWN NEXT CHAPTER. I AM EAGER TO SEE HOW YOU READERS LIKE THESE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS. JUST A WARNING THEY ARE ON THE DARK SIDE. I WAS AFRAID TO TAKE IT TOO FAR SO IT MAY OR MAY NOT BE GOOD. THIS CHAPTER PROBABLY COULD USE SOME EXPANDING BUT I WANT TO SEE WHAT YOU GUYS THINK.**

**I WANT TO THANK OCEANICEAGLE, CHIKA1345, ANIHITACHIINLOVER, **AND** TRIFORCEANDSHEIKAHARTS **FOR REVIEWING SINCE THE LAST POSTING. **NEJIISAWESOME122 **FOR ADDING THIS TO THEIR FAVORITES LIST. AND FINALLY I WOULD LIKE TO THANK **YELLOW-PHEONIX55, DRAGONPINK, **AND **NEJIISAWESOME122** FOR SIGNING UP FOR THIS FICS ALERT LIST. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT THAT KEEPS ME WRITING.

ALSO I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE A VERY BIG THANK YOU TO **CHIKA1345** FOR READING MOST OF THE CHAPTERS AND POSTING A REVIEW FOR EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER READ. SO WHEN YOU GET TO THIS CHAPTER I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT **THIS CHAPTER IS FOR YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT. **I AM STILL SMILING ^_^.

**Chapter 22 Break Begins and Black Clouds** (maybe this one ought to be called It Begins)

Edward POV

It has only been a few days since I saw Carrie last and I'm already missing her terribly. Heck we all seem more irritable without her around, even Jasper and he is the quiet one. At one point or another we find ourselves standing outside her locked up and disguised bedroom door. Even though her scent has been washed away we can still sort of feel her presence in her room. We have even hidden all of the presents that had her name anywhere on them and now the tree doesn't look as cheerful since the majority of the gifts are for her.

Esme seems to be taking it kind of hard also. On the first day she made a breakfast for Carrie just to throw it away, because she wasn't here and we weren't going to take it to her for we don't want any traces of us anywhere near her. Esme spent the next hour slowly cleaning the dishes that she used. This morning she was organizing her pots and pans and going through the pantry straightening up.

We were all sitting in the living room doing nothing in particular. Carlisle had taken these two weeks off from work so there would be no distractions. He was currently playing a game of chess with Jasper. They were using a different chess set then usual since Jasper and Carrie had been in the middle of a game when all of this had happened.

We were also dressed up a bit so that we would look presentable when Aro and the others arrived. I was wearing the same thing that I wore when I took Bella to prom. Emmett was wearing roughly the same thing with no jacket and Jasper had the jacket but no tie. Carlisle was wearing a suit that he usually wears to work. The ladies had on dresses or skirts. Esme had on a red cocktail dress, Rosalie was wearing a sea green skirt that came to her knees with white blouse and Alice was wearing the purple top that Carrie made for her Halloween costume with a black skirt that came down to her ankles. What couldn't be seen however were the shorts they were wearing underneath in case they needed extra movement for fighting and they were wearing shoes that they could kick off in a hurry.

All of us were tense because we had no idea for the reason why Aro was coming here for. Why would he suddenly want to talk to Carlisle after all this time and what business does he need to discuss with us. The weather outside hasn't been helping either. The clouds coming in have been getting darker and darker. We could even hear some thunder which is a bit unusual but not uncommon with bad snow storms. According to the news reports a storm was rolling in that had a high probability of becoming a blizzard; possibly the worst seen in twenty years.

Thinking about the weather had me wondering how Carrie is doing. I checked over everything in my mind. When she was staying with us we increased the size of her den; it was almost twice it original size. We even added a little door to keep things out. Before we last left her we made sure that she had plenty of warm clothes, food, water and fire wood. So she should be set if a blizzard does hit until we can come and dig her out. I have Alice keep looking to see anything but she just gets blurs. Carlisle assures us that Carrie is a strong and stubborn girl that if anything does happen she can pull through, she'll make it. That doesn't keep us from worrying though; she is special to all of us.

Across from me Alice stiffens up and her eyes look unfocused, she was having a vision that I was too worried to watch along with her. When she pulls out of it she tells us that Aro will be arriving within the hour and that he is bringing Felix, Demetri and Jane with him as far as she could tell along with a few guards. So the time has finally arrived. It was a tense time for we didn't know why they were coming and how long they would be staying. It also didn't help matters that the storm was getting closer. Let's just say we had a lot on our minds and we were trying our best to keep calm and collected. We didn't want to say something or do anything inappropriate because we didn't look forward to being torn apart any time soon.

As the hour came to a close we cleaned up the living room a bit and straightened ourselves out then went to the front room by the door to greet our guests. Not even ten minutes later our door bell rang. Carlisle turned to us and mouthed 'smile' before he turned back to the door. He opened it and we were greeted with the sight of two guards wearing blood red garments with just as red spears and shields. They just walked through the door as soon as it was opened. They were followed soon after by another one then Jane came through. As she stepped over the threshold she sent as smirk toward me and stepped to the side. I couldn't tell what she was wearing for all I could see was the forest green cloak covering her form.

After Jane two other vampires came through. The first one I recognized as Demetri wearing a black cloak and the second one was Felix wearing a dark blue cloak. Then after a short pause Aro came through. He was wearing royal purple robes and he still looked as old and fragile as ever. But I knew that his looks were deceiving. He may look fragile but is far stronger than our whole coven put together. He also has the advantage of experience and his gift is quite handy also, for he can read minds through touch, similar to like I can without touch, but his gift is so much more powerful. Three more guards came in after him and Carlisle closed the door. Aro took a small look around the room that we were in and us as well. When he seemed satisfied he turned to Carlisle and said, "Carlisle old friend, how wonderful it is to see you again."

"Like wise. I hope that your travel was fair, not any difficulties I hope," Carlisle said his tone purposefully open and friendly.

"None at all," Aro replied. "I would ask for a drink but I know that you and your coven have a very…peculiar diet so we stopped on the way to town." Humans are nothing but cattle to likes of him it's disgusting.

"I hope that it was far enough away from town. We don't need the treaty broken between us and the La Push people," Carlisle said and I could tell it took great effort to keep his tone as easy going as it was.

"Don't worry dear friend, we were plenty far away so there shouldn't be any trouble for you or your coven," Aro said. "Now why don't you introduce everyone here, it has been a while since we have met last. I have heard of you starting your own coven and I am curious as to who they are."

"Of course," Carlisle agreed. "This is my lovely wife Esme," he said holding his hand out toward her. Esme took it and came to stand next to Carlisle.

She sent a smile to Aro and said, "Welcome to our home," like the charming and elegant hostess that she is.

Aro held his hand out to her as well. She placed her other hand in his and he brought it up to kiss the back of it. "Thank you."

"This is our son Emmett," Carlisle said next. They nodded their heads in greeting before moving on to Rose.

"This is our daughter Rosalie, she is Emmett's wife," Esme introduced.

"Ah to bad that she is married," Aro said as he turned toward Rosalie. "We would have great use of her beauty in Volterra." He kissed the back of her hand and she replied with a tense thank you. As much as Rosalie loved hearing how beautiful she was, she knew what 'use' they would have of her in Volterra. She was in no mind to lure humans to their death.

"Here is another of our sons Jasper. He is the newest addition to our family and life style," Carlisle said. Jasper inclined his head and Aro returned with a small nod of his head.

"This is our last daughter Alice. She is Jaspers wife and has been with us since Jasper joined us a few decades ago," Esme said. Like the other women Aro kissed the back of her hand.

"And this is Edward, the last of our sons. He has been with us for roughly the past hundred years," Carlisle said finishing the introductions. Again we only nodded to each other.

"Now Carlisle lets go somewhere that we can talk and get reacquainted, catch up on what has happened since we have last seen each other. I'm sure your children can keep my ... friends company," Aro said as he placed a hand on Carlisle's shoulder. I tensed at this, as with the other times, since Aro's gift requires touch, but I didn't pick up on anything. Carlisle agreed and leads the way to his study. His guards followed him and Esme went with Carlisle. That just left us and Demetri, Felix and Jane. My siblings and I looked at each other all thinking the same, when will this be over.

"So what do you guys do for fun around here if not chasing humans," Felix asked. This is going to be a long visit.

Over a week! Aro has been here for almost nine days, our break is only fourteen weekends included. Sure they came right before break was technically to start but still yet, they have been here for a while. Jane, Demetri and Felix have also been making it seem just like hell. Demetri and Felix are always trying to pick fights with Emmett, Jasper and me. Occasionally Aro would come down and practically order us to fight them. He said that it is to test our abilities but I have a feeling that it was more for his personal entertainment.

Jane has been practically doing the same thing with the girls. She is constantly bugging them and when she isn't bothering them she is annoying me. She follows me around everywhere like a love sick puppy. She goes through my music and my journals. She gets slightly mad whenever another female is mentioned. I guess it's a good thing that I hid the journals from the last couple of years so she isn't reading anything about Bella or Carrie.

They seemed curious about Carrie's room but they seem to accept the explanation of it being a storage room for things of years past that we occasionally bring out from time to time. It had several locks on it that were difficult to pick and only Carlisle had the keys tucked into a pocket on his undershirt.

As a safety precaution we stacked a bunch of boxes in there and placed a lot around the door so if someone did get in there they would just see a bunch of boxes. We also rigged the door so that it can't open that far no matter how much strength you put behind it; it was Emmett tested so we were confident with it. The bulbs were removed from the chandelier and have the curtains tightly closed and window locked so no light can enter it. Any foot holds on the outside were removed so even if they jumped up to the widows they couldn't get in. Again it was Emmett tested. All of this was designed by Jasper.

Another thing that has us down is that it has been snowing practically constantly since Christmas Eve four nights ago. There was some light snow to beforehand, with the blizzard it has been particularly nasty; strong winds, heavy snow fall. We have been out there quite a few times already to clean off the porch, the roof, build up along and on the house, plus the normal shoveling out the driveway. There have been massive power outages across the state. We have our own backup generators as well as most of the population of Forks. It's a good thing because it has been almost dark as night the entire time; the clouds are so dark like rain clouds that the snow kind of knocks you for a loop. It has also barely been above freezing during the day and almost reaching zero, if not below, at night; the coldest nights on record for the past decade at least.

During this time we try not to let our minds wander to a certain someone. We don't want to alert Aro to her existence. We are all worried about her in this weather but we try our best not to let our concern show. We were all wishing that Aro would leave already. We already determined that once we are sure he is gone we are all going to check on her. It doesn't help matters that Alice can't seem to see a thing.

Esme appears to be having a hard time. When she isn't in the study with Carlisle and Aro or in her room or the library, she is in the kitchen. When she's in there she goes through her dishes and pantry. She looks through her cook books and watches cooking shows taking notes. During the whole time she keeps looking out the window. We try to keep her busy so she doesn't tip Aro and company that something is up. When asked what was wrong she replied, "Mothers instinct." This puts us a little more on edge. After asking for permission we go out to relieve some stress by hunting, fighting, stupid little competitions. It takes almost everything that I have to not to run and check in on Carrie.

Carlisle and Aro come down then and call a meeting in the living room. "Now for the business part of this visit," Aro said as he looked us over but stopped when he came to me. "I am most interested in young Edward here. I can tell that he is quite powerful already and his gift is much sought after. I would like him to come back with me to Volterra and join our ranks. With our help he can become even stronger, one of the elite. Not that he is almost there already."

"It has also come to our attention however that he has informed a human girl about our existence in the world. Her name is…" he paused as of to remember the name. "Oh yes now I remember, her name is Isabella. I'm I correct Edward," he asked.

"That is correct, but you don't have to worry about her now," I said stoically.

"Is that so," Felix questioned. "Did you kill her? Did you change her? Or has she died?" He said the last part a bit too eagerly for my tastes.

"None of the above," I replied tersely.

"Would you care to explain," Demetri said. Even sitting down he looks intimidating and serious; not someone that I would particularly going up against, as I and the other have in our 'sparring'.

I turned to look at him before looking at Carlisle. I saw him nod his head so I turned back to Aro. "You are correct that I was involved with a girl named Isabella and I informed her on the existence of vampires. She has not told anyone our secret. We were going to change her to become one of us eventually, as Alice had foreseen," I said with a glance toward her.

"Is this true Alice," Aro asked her in a curious tone. I noticed a spark in his eyes when her gift was mentioned.

"Yes it is. They would have had an interesting future together," she said solemnly. Alice had such high hopes that we would get together but even she did not see her ending up with Jacob.

Aro looked at me to continue. "Well earlier in the year we had a falling out of sorts. I caught her with another guy, one from the La Push who also happens to be a werewolf. She has been back and forth between the two of us that I finally had enough of it and ended it with her."

"She is a liability! She should be killed! She could leak our secrets," Felix said angrily as he stood from his seat quickly.

"You can't kill her," I said.

"I don't care if she was your lover. She is a danger to us," Demetri said as he slowly stood as well. I could see Jane slightly bouncing in her seat, eager to see a fight.

"You cannot kill her for it would be a violation of the treaty we made with the La Push. One because she is a human within the city limits and our territories, second because she is the mate of the werewolf mentioned earlier. And…," Carlisle began but he stopped and looked at me.

"What," I asked confused as to why he was giving me that look. His thoughts were full of concern as to how I will take what he was about to say.

"Well…" he began, "there is a possibility that she may be pregnant with his pup, his child. She came in right before the break to visit another doctor about a pregnancy test." Surprisingly this didn't hurt me as much as I thought that it would have. There was a little pang but it soon went away. I could still feel a little something but I was able to move on. I looked up and saw that Aro seemed to be studying me.

"Why don't you tell me everything that has happened between you and her," Aro said. I knew that it wasn't a request.

So I spent a good part of the next day telling everything that has happened. I started to when she moved here I couldn't read her mind and how intoxicating her scent was to where I would sneak into her room and watch her, trying to figure her out. I told about how I saved her from being hit by Tyler's' van and how she discovered what I was. Then I started on bringing her for a baseball game and the incident with the terrible three. I informed him how we tried to trick James long enough for Bella to get away with Jasper and Alice. How she got away from them at the airport when she thought James had her mom. I explained how James tricked her into coming alone to the ballet studio. I finished up with her almost dying and turning but I sucked the venom out and how our relationship changed until I finally left her so she wouldn't have to choose. I also told about Victoria's revenge plan that had backfired and the fate of Laurent.

"Sounds like you've had an interesting year with her. I can see how the rest of eternity with her would have turned out. I however hold you to your word that she will not tell anyone about what we are and we will not harm her and destroy the treaty that you have made with the werewolves," Aro said. Demetri and Felix looked like they were about to argue but he sent them a look and they kept quite.

"Too bad about her, with her abilities to block your powers she would have made a wondrous addition to Volterra," Aro said. "Now on to other things, like I mentioned earlier I would like Edward to come back to Volterra with me and be trained to join the Elite." He turned to look at me. "You are quite strong already, but we can make you stronger. With you under my wing you can be unstoppable. You can have anything that you want. We can even find you a wife, heck you can have as many wives as you want. All that you have to do is join us," Aro said persuasively, trying to get me to agree.

"I'm sorry, but I believe that I am going to have to decline," I told him keeping both my face and tone unemotional.

"And why is that," he asked curiously.

"Well the main thing is diet. I am a vegetarian so I refuse to drink human blood. I made a promise to Carlisle that I wouldn't partake in that…" I paused before continuing, "delicacy. Second, you offered a position among your court to him long ago and he too turned you down. Third I'm fine with the way that I am. I don't want to become stronger."

"Well this is such a disappointment. I was hoping that you would join us," he said with a fake pout. "How about you Alice, You have great potential and your gift is even harder to come by. You would be a great asset to us. Why don't you come with us to Volterra? We could train you to better control your gift. I could also personally train you."

Alice sent him a smile and said, "As great as that sounds I'm also going to decline the offer. I'm happy here the way that I am."

"I suppose that your reasons are much the same as Edward's," he asked. Alice nodded an affirmative. "Oh well. I'll most likely ask you again in a couple of decades anyway. You'll be stronger by then also," he said.

"Is there anything else that you wish to discuss," Carlisle asked him.

"Yes, there is one more thing, but I will get to that after I have a drink," Aro said as he reached into his robes. When he withdrew his hand he was holding a small bottle that was filled with blood. Human blood no doubt. The others did the same as him and pulled out their own bottles of blood. Aro motioned that it was alright for his guards to do so also and they did.

They uncorked all of their bottles and the smell of human blood swept across our noses. So tantalizing that it was teasing us like a perfume, trying to draw us in like an asp/snake to the forbidden fruit. Forbidden fruit indeed, the one substance that we need to survive, the one thing that we have sworn off to never have, the one thing we all craved; human blood.

We fight against the lure of it and we immediately turn toward Jasper. He being the newest to the no human blood the temptation is much stronger than the rest of us. We turned toward him but we were shocked at what we saw. Jasper was standing there, with Emmett's hand to his chest, but he wasn't fighting against him. His form was tense and his hands and jaw were clenched tightly. He wasn't struggling to get to the blood; he was resisting its call. Emmett slowly lowered his arm while looking at him hesitantly but stayed prepared to grab him if he would have to. But Jasper didn't move he only brought his hand up to his face to help resist the smell.

Aro and his group seemed to take their time sipping the blood. They would leave it open while they talked about whatever they talked about in Italian. While they were talking they would wave the bottle around and more scent would be put into the air. By now the rest of us were finding it a little more difficult to resist the smell. Carlisle and I seemed to have the best go of it. Carlisle being a doctor and me studying to be one at one point. Jasper had his arms around is middle but he was still resisting. Emmett, Alice and Rosalie were distracting themselves and Esme appeared to be in her own little world. I tried to ignore the smell and I concentrated on anything else but the blood. Carlisle was up trying to calm Jasper down.

After a couple of hours Aro and company put their half empty bottles back within their cloaks, "I think that that is long enough. I'm surprised that you all made it that far. Especially you Jasper because from what I understand you are the weakest when it comes to resisting human blood; it appears that you are finally able to control your urges."

"You mean that was a test," Rosalie said angrily. Her eyes like the rest of my family, excluding Carlisle, were darker in color; closer to the black then the amber they usually are.

"You can say that. It just fascinates me how you can resist not drinking from humans, it is just so delicious," he said. "Well that concludes our business here. I think that we better head off since the storm seems to have passed." We looked outside and it was indeed lighter out there. You could see dawn approaching on the horizon. We stood up and walked after Aro's group to the door. After the first three guards and Demetri, Felix and Jane walked out he turned to face us.

"Will be asking again for you two join us in a few decades or so. Next time though you friend will be involved," he said confidently.

"You mean Bella. I don't think she'll be a threat, she'll be an old lady by then if she is still alive," Esme asked confused as to what he meant.

"No my dear not that one, the other one; the one who's room you have disguised as a storage room," Aro said. I felt my eyes widen when he said that. He knew all along and he didn't do anything. He must have seen the look on our faces for we were all surprised at what he said. "Of course, I have known all along. She must be really important if you tried to hide her from me. I have seen glimpses of her, have felt her presence in the house and I believe that she would also make a valuable asset when and if she is changed. I cannot tell if she changes or not, but all depends if she survives what has happened to her over the past week or so," he said with a smirk.

"You mean to say that you know what she has been going through since you got here," I asked incredibly. Aro simply nodded with a shrug. "Why, how?"

"I guess that you can say that this is her test to determine if she should become one of us. As for how I have my ways," Aro replied.

That had me so angry I felt several pairs of arms wrap around me with guards pointing their spears inches from my face before I even realized that I was trying to get after Aro. I could tell that the others were angry as well but there were no words to describe what I felt at that moment. Even the strongest blood lust that I have felt cannot compare.

Aro sent me a smile before he turned and left followed by the rest of his guards. The door closed behind them in an eerily loud slam. I fought harder because I wanted to get him before he left. I didn't care if he was a founding member of the Volturi, I was going to rip him apart and burn the pieces. It took an hour before Alice determined that he wasn't going to come back and during that time Carlisle was calming me down.

"Get a hold of yourself Edward. You will be of no help to Carrie in this state, you need to clear your mind and come back to yourself," Carlisle said. How could he expect me to be calm after hearing that?!

"How can you be so calm about this? He knowingly allowed her to go through whatever it is that she went through," I said already my mind envisioning all the things she must have had to endure without me there to protect her. My mind was in turmoil remembering the state we found her in last time we had any kind of separation. God, Alice's vision could be happening, I could be losing her right now. She could be half dead somewhere out there wishing I found her.

"I'm upset too Edward, but I'm going to use my anger as the fuel that I'll need when we go out there to find and help her," he said. "Everyone listen up." We all turned to look at him. "We need to be prepared for anything. I want everyone to grab a towel and a blanket of some sort. I also want everyone to grab one of the first aid kits that I keep in the bathroom. We'll take these with us when we go out."

"I also want hot water bottles prepared for her; if she is too cold her body temperature will need to be brought up. Esme you can take care of that. Emmett, Edward and Jasper I want you to clean out her room so that it is ready for later. Alice, Rose I need you to get all of the bandages that you find and move them near her room. The same goes with extra towels and blankets. Let's get moving, the sooner that we get this done the sooner we can go out and bring her home," he commanded letting us know that there should be no nonsense.

With that said we set out at out appointed tasks. For now we just moved everything to the end of the hall out of the way. We were going so fast to get done so we can get out of here that we ran into each other a lot, causing what we were carrying to scatter which we then had to waste more time picking it up. Eventually we had everything that Carlisle asked for ready and we could set out.

We all ran directly toward Carrie's den with me leading the way and Carlisle and Esme bringing up the rear since they had never been there before. Of course with me being the fastest I arrived sooner than they did. I paused as I came by the house. The lights were on and I could hear laughter from within despite the early morning hour. It sounded like more than two people in there, so that must mean that Carrie's step siblings came for the holidays.

I walked right past the house I didn't care if they saw me I was looking for someone important. As I was walking back I came across on area where the almost 4.5-5 feet of snow was shallower then the surrounding area. In the middle of this area was a post and I walked toward it. I didn't care if I was leaving a trail I needed to find Carrie.

As I reached the pole I noticed that there was a chain attached. I slowly reached toward the chain and pulled it up. It was long enough to be roughly the radius of the circle in which I was standing. I continued pulling until I came to some resistance. The others had caught up with me now and were standing just outside the circle about twelve feet away. I pulled up the chain and welded to the end was a metal collar. Attached to the collar were frozen fabric straps. It was frozen because they were covered in blood. It was too frozen to get a scent from, but I recognized the fabric as part of one of Carrie's favorite sweaters.

I dropped the chain and hurried as fast as I could in the snow toward the direction of the den. I found her out door shelter and walked ten paces/feet directly south. When I stopped I used my hands to start digging in the snow. I barely noticed as the others helped me to dig. After a few moments we finally uncovered the door. I grabbed it and ripped it off. I barely noticed that there was no fire light coming out before I saw Alice dive into the hole. She was back out less than a minute later with a troubled look on her face.

"She hasn't been in there for a while. Her scent is really old and the fire has long burned out," she said her worry creeping in to her voice.

"Alright we'll split up from here. We'll start by looking in a mile radius into the woods around the house. They couldn't have taken her too far from here on foot. We'll split up. Alice you're with Edward, Esme you're with Rosalie and Emmett, Jasper you are with me. If you find her yell, I don't care if you draw attention to yourselves we need to find her. Now let's go," Carlisle commanded.

We split up and moved as fast as we can in the snow, looking everywhere for any sign of where she could be. As we were searching we came upon a curiously drawn path in the snow. It was wide enough for a car and appeared to be only recently filled in with snow. I traced its path in the snow and… it led back toward the house!

Alice and I got on this path where the snow was only about a foot deep. We followed the path for at least a mile until we came to an area where it looked like the snow had been piled up to form a wall. The part covering the path was the smallest part of the wall. Alice and I headed to the wall and started clawing our way through even though we could easily jump over it. When we got through I looked at my surroundings and could not prevent the gasp that came from me. It appeared as if someone had made a homemade torture chamber right in the middle of the woods. There were posts and large stones all with chains nearby. The ground appears to have been cleared of snow just a few hours ago so I could see blood upon the objects. Looking at the snow wall again I could see red stains mixed in with the dirt stains. It seemed impossible for there to be so much blood.

I looked around again, praying that Carrie wasn't somewhere among this place of terrors. Unfortunately I came across a figure that didn't seem to fit in. I slowly moved toward it, hoping that it wasn't what I thought it was, to get a better view. When I saw what it was I didn't even realize that I fell to my knees until I felt something sharp dig into my skin. I couldn't believe, wouldn't believe what I was seeing. I heard Alice say, "What's wrong Edward?" I couldn't say anything, I was in too much shock and I turned my eyes away from the scene. I could hear Alice gasp then try to say something as she saw what I turned my eyes from.

"CARLISLE," I heard Alice finally shout hysterically.

WELL THERE YOU HAVE IT. SORRY IF IT SEEMS A BIT RUSHED BUT I AM TRYING TO CONVEY A SENSE OF URGENCY. IF THINGS NEED TO BE FIXED LET ME KNOW. NEXT CHAPTER WE SEE WHAT HAPPENED. AS I HAVE SAID BEFORE I AM REALLY EAGER TO HEAR WHAT YOU READERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS AND THE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS SO **PLEASE REVIEW.**

REMEMBER THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER FOR VOTING AND HERE ARE THE RESULTS THUS FAR:

**IT BEGINS - 11**

**DARKEST DAYS - 11**

IT IS A TIE PEOPLE AND **THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO VOTE.**


	23. Chapter 23

ALRIGHT SORRY THAT IT TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE I HAD A HARD TIME UPLOADING THIS PLUS I HAVE BEEN BUSY LATELY SO SORRY AGAIN THIS IS A LITTLE LATE. THOSE OF YOU THAT DON'T ALREADY KNOW I POSTED A NEW FIC **UNUSUAL WORKINGS: DESTINY **SO FEEL FREE TO READ AND REVIEW THAT. IT IS THE FIRST PART OF A FOUR PART SERIES I AM WORKING ON SO HOPEFULLY IT TURNS OUT ALRIGHT. THERE IS A POLL ON MY PROFILE CONCERNING IT AS WELL SO FEEL FREE TO CHECK THAT OUT AND VOTE AS WELL.

OKAY NOW TO GIVE A BIG THANKS TO PEOPLE. REVIEWERS: **OCEANICEAGLE, CHIKA1345, TRIFORCEANDSHEIKAARTS**. PEOPLE WHO ADDED THIS TO THEIR FAVORITES: **SWEETHEART101, CHKIA1345**. PEOPLE WHO SIGNED UP FOR ALERTS: **SUNTAN140, FAITHABOVE**. SORRY IF I SPELLED ANY WRONG, I CAN'T READ MY HANDWRITING. LOL

OKAY THE TIME THAT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THE RESULTS OF THE TITLE POLL AND IT WAS VERY CLOSE. AND THE RESULTS ARE IT BEGINS - 11, DARKEST DAYS - 14

MY BIRTHDAY FALLS BETWEEN NOW AND WHEN I WILL NEXT UPDATE SO I WOULD LIKE A BUNCH OF REVIEWS FOR MY BIRTHDAY! ^_^

HOPEFULLY THIS CHAPTER SEEMS MORE BELIEVABLE

(I was afraid of going too far with this chapter since I'm not sure how far is too far, but I hope that you like it anyway.)

**Chapter 23: Darkest Days.**

Carrie's POV

As all of the Cullen siblings were piling into Edward's tiny Volvo I could feel my guts tightening in apprehension. Something was going to happen to take my happiness away; a sinking feeling that never brings any good news. So I just sat in Edward's lap waiting for the 'blow' to come.

When I was told that I had to stop coming to the Cullen home I was devastated. _'Why are they doing this to me_,' I questioned myself. '_Had I done something wrong for them to not want me anymore? Do they no longer like me? I had thought everything was going good with the relationships we have formed.' _As I thought this I fought with everything I had to stop the feelings of depression, abandonment, and unworthiness that wanted to consume me. _'Or had they been playing around with me all along? Did they play with me like a shiny new toy or puzzle that the final picture was unknown and now that their curiosity has been satisfied they are going to toss me aside.' _As I thought all of this I made sure to block my thoughts so that Edward wouldn't tell what I was thinking, and I tried to hide what I was feeling from Jasper.

When they told me that I couldn't visit anymore for my safety I was touched. They didn't want anything to happen to me because they were concerned about me, they loved me. I remembered the stories of the Volturi that they told me when we were getting to know each other so I knew that they were a dangerous bunch and that they are all in danger for what they have done for me even with their good intentions.

As they explained that they had to get rid of all traces of my existence I began to think over my life so far. Everywhere that I have moved to I had to fade in then fade out. Never to be seen or heard and none would be the wiser of my time spent there. This was all the same as all of the other times but this time I had to hide from the ultimate hunter. The punishment for failure would be worse than any beating that I have received. Failure would mean my death, most likely by having every drop of blood sucked out of my body and my loved ones being torn to shreds and the remains burned.

I found myself hoping that they would hold their promise to come and find me when the danger had passed. They have all worked their way into my heart that I had long thought to be buried in stone and encaged in ice. They are all precious to me and I don't want them to have any problems on my account. They are the family that I have always dreamed about being a part of. While other girls dreamed of being a princess or ballerina or something like that, I dreamed of a family to call my own. Loving and doting parents, siblings to hang out with and to look after each other; to form a bond that will last a lifetime, someone that I have something similar with; this is what I want.

With the Cullen's I have that and so much more. I have never felt so good about myself in all my life. I have confidence in myself and everything I do that I have never felt before. And, dare I say it, I feel like a normal girl. I feel attractive at times and I have started to put more time, care and energy into my appearance. I have loved ones who worry about me and make sure that I have the best of everything.

And of course there is Edward; he has invoked feelings and sensations in me that I have never felt or ever imagined that I would ever feel in my entire life. Even with all my flaws and imperfections he has loved me unconditionally. He has loved me as a man should love a woman and I have found myself basking in the glow of his love. I have been enjoying every moment of attention that he has given me.

When I noticed that the siblings were looking at me in worry and concern, waiting to see what my reaction would be. I found myself reassuring them that I would be alright. It isn't the first time that I have been on my own after all. They were relieved that I appeared to be fine with everything and understood why they were doing what they were doing and we continued as we have been.

I knew that the Cullen's were only looking out for me but I can't help the feeling of abandonment that I was experiencing. I had a feeling that everything that has happened to me was too good to be true. My happiness wasn't going to last forever and I was going to be paying the price for wishing that it was true.

The days have passed much the same as always. The only difference is that we were all clingier of each other, (them to me and me to them). I was always with at least one of them like we were glued at the hip. It wasn't that far from the truth; whenever any one of them was near me they would stand or walk as close as possible, even Jasper and Rosalie. Emmett, Edward and Alice would hold me so close that they were practically carrying me.

We moved as a group and I was never alone. My 'siblings' were with me at school and work. Carlisle would pick me up from work even though the others were there with their own vehicles that way we would have some time together and he would drive slower toward home while we talked about our days. At home after I took a shower Esme would comb my hair and I would help her with the dishes after supper. I spent the entire time with someone.

On the last night Esme made me one of my favorite dinners with ice cream and cake for dessert. Despite everything I couldn't help the feeling that this was my last meal or something like that. We enjoyed our time together and all too soon it was time for me to leave. That night only Edward came with me to my den. He carried me the whole way on his back; my limbs wrapped tightly around him and his hands holding my upper thighs right below my butt. I could feel his thumb moving up and down against my leg.

That night we held each other closely and things got a little steamy. As we lean in for a kiss good night we found that we were both reluctant to pull away. The longer it lasted the more urgent that it became. I could feel a fire building between us and I didn't want it to stop. Some clothes were shed and tentative touches were given but we didn't take it any farther despite how much we wanted to but it would be too dangerous. It's bad enough that our scent would be heavier on each other after our little 'exploration' but it wouldn't be as bad if we actually crossed the line. If we did end up 'sleeping' with each other a bit of our partners scent would have been permanently imprinted on each other.

Edward was to leave the next morning at dawn but he was unwilling to leave and a few hours later after much more kissing and holding we stood in front of each other outside of my den. Our hands were clasped between our chests and out foreheads were against each others. We looked deep into each other's eyes and with one last long, slow, gentle kiss he backed away from me. Our arms stretched out toward each other, hands still connected and we slowly pulled apart further and further. I watched as he slowly backed away from me deeper into the forest toward his home and out of sight. I stood there watching where he disappeared to hoping that I would see him soon and that hopefully this was a dream.

The next week of school was very lonely for me. Even though there was one week before winter break started the Cullen's weren't at school. They stayed at home so that they could clean the house and properly prepare for their visitors. They also stayed at home so that my scent wouldn't be on them and they wouldn't be tempted to touch me. The excuse given to the school was that they were going to Italy to visit some family and to tour the country. Before they left Alice gave me some money so that I could buy a warm lunch.

School and work has gone on much the same as always, I was just feeling kind of lonely and the days seemed to drag on forever. The only thing that was unusual was that a couple of times that I went into the bathroom and I heard someone that was sick. When I went to check on the person it turned out to be Bella. At first she was really angry at me but after some words were said, me mainly expressing my concern, she flung herself into my arms, knocking me into the wall behind me which I slid down until we were both sitting on the floor and spent about the next half hour crying. We missed class but we didn't get into too much trouble, it was then that Bella told me that she was pregnant. She did a home pregnancy test that came back positive and she went to the hospital for one of their tests and the results should be in soon.

When I didn't talk her down or anything about her condition Bella became quite friendly with me. She apologized about how she has been acting and confided in me that she still wanted Edward. I explained to her that Edward still has some feelings for her and he always will but he has moved on and she should as well with a baby on the way. She explained that the father was Jacob Black and she hasn't told anyone that she is pregnant but naturally everyone knows. I told her just to keep her head held high and keep moving forward. When she asked about Edward I didn't say anything for I made a promise that I wouldn't say anything about what was happening.

The week was half over and there were just a couple of more days before school was out for winter break. I was walking down the drive way when Thom was on the porch. I started to panic because I had no idea why he would be out there. I haven't done anything wrong. _Did he find out about the Cullen's? Or is it something else?_

I was relieved however when he told me that my half siblings would be coming tomorrow for the holidays and that tonight they would be gone so that I could clean the house. I wasn't relieved that I had to clean this late at night and that Howard and Helen were coming over; I was relieved that I wasn't in trouble of some sort. I wasn't looking forward to another beating. That night I knew that I wouldn't be getting any sleep but I got to work anyways. What I didn't know that soon enough that that was going to be the least of my worries. The first few days passes peacefully for they (Howard and Helen, the step siblings) were getting use to our time zone even though they drove here from where ever it was they went to after graduating.

I spent my time standing out in my post watching as the snow began to gently fall from the sky. I was wearing warmer clothes that were provided by the Cullen's underneath the larger clothes that I have always had. Over top of my clothes I had a trash bag over them so that they wouldn't get to wet from the snow.

It was during the first weekday of the break was that everything started to go downhill. I was cleaning the driveway of the snow that has been falling. It was pretty dark out and I was worried about the weather, for I didn't know what was coming but I still had a bad feeling about it. I could feel that the temperatures were getting colder and I tried to dress appropriately since I would most likely be standing outside during most of this.

I had just finished shoveling out the drive way and was putting the shovel away when I heard vehicles coming up the drive. Everyone had left earlier for breakfast in town. First came Thom and Liz's old vehicle and after them was Helen in her small beat up red Cadillac. After them was Howard in an early eighties small dodge pickup that had a snow plow on the front.

'_That would have been useful like two hours ago. Then again it would be helpful later too if this snow keeps up like it is_,' I thought as I looked to the sky which has only darkened as the day has progressed. I could have sworn that I heard thunder earlier and I was reminded of the fun I had playing and watching the Cullen's playing baseball.

"Brat get over here," I heard Thom shout out. I let out a sigh and headed in his direction. As I approached him, he was standing on the porch and Liz and her children were heading into the house. Both Howard and Helen were around 5'5" and easily weighed 300 pounds. They both had short dark brown hair, large pig like noses and mouths with small lips that were constantly hanging open and you could see their tongues sticking out between their teeth. They were around twenty-five to thirty years old (Howard is the older) and had a very dirty appearance. (Liz is in her mid - late forties and Thom in his early fifties.)

"You need to clean out the back yard so that I can see the ground. I want this done now and done quickly so hurry your lazy ass up and get to work," Thom said as he turned around and headed in to the house.

I let out another sigh and headed back to the shed to get the shovel and get to work. I had a bad feeling about this and I hoped that I was wrong. I set to work clearing out the good half foot of snow that had fallen since it began to snow.

I was working for a few hours since I had to walk to the forest edge to dump the snow and I was getting sore and worn out from all the shoveling I was doing until I heard Thom shouting for me again. I quickly headed to my post and set the shovel along side of the house. When I got there Thom immediately told me what he wanted me to do.

"I want a small hole dug in the middle of the back yard as wide as this shovel and two feet deep," he said as he tossed a regular garden shovel in my direction. I caught the shovel before it could hit me and waited until he was back in the house before I went out and completed my next task.

It was hard to get started for the ground was frozen solid and took me forever to dig into it and it didn't start softening up until over six inches in. It was a piece of cake digging the hole then and completing my task. Just as I was finishing the hole the end of the shovel fell off and into the hole. I stared into the hole for a moment, cursing my luck before I knelt down and reached for the shovel head.

As I went to stand up I felt something slam against my back and knock me down. Before I could even move to look behind me or to get up I felt another blow on the back of my shoulders just shy of my head and neck. I then felt another kick in the ribs. '_Not again' _I thought as fear clouded my mind and I curled into a protective position. I had only just healed from the last time they 'punished' me. That didn't get any farther before I felt another blow around my upper back and the back of my head before the lights went out.

When I started to come around again I could feel a throbbing in my head. As I came to a bit more I was aware of my surroundings but what was most prevalent was the fact that I was wet and cold. I lay there trying to gather my wits about me. There was blackness surrounding my vision and I just lay there as it slowly engulfed my vision and I was gone again.

I'm not sure how long I was out but when I finally came to I was covered in about two inches of snow. As I took note of my surroundings and tried to determine the time of day. I must be late in the day for the dark clouds are even darker suggesting that it was evening and by the looks of things I was still outside in the back yard.

'_Owe. What did they hit me with? I feel as though I got tackled against a brick wall._' For a few minutes I just sat there and tried to gather myself together. I had a throbbing headache and my vision was slightly blurry. I shivered from the chill that went down my spine due to the wind blowing across my wet form. As I sat there willing my headache to go away I felt a strange weight against my collar bone. I slowly brought my hand up and felt around. I had to pull my hand away quickly as it came in contact with something cold.

I slowly brought my hand up again but continued to explore what was around my neck. It was cold and hard, most likely metal and it encircled my entire neck. They had placed a collar on me! As I felt around some more I could tell that my hair was underneath said collar and there was a chain that was connected to the back.

I grabbed the chain and pulled the length up so I could see where it leads to and how long it was. It was roughly twelve feet in length allowing me roughly the same amount of room and it was connected to a post. After slowly getting up on unsteady legs I walked the short distance to the post. I uncovered the bottom of it and noticed that the post was in a recently dug hole, most likely the one that I dug out earlier.

I clawed desperately at the ground hoping to maybe getting myself free. Alas it looked like water was poured in with the dirt so it was now a giant block of ice so the only results I got were torn nails which caused them to bleed around the cuticles and stinging fingers. I tried tugging on the chain, trying to get free. I even tried to break the post but that just resulted in some bruises and some splinters I my hands; the post was just too thick and too strong. I was hungry and cold and wet and I could tell that everything was just going to get worse.

That night I didn't sleep, I was scared that if I did I wasn't going to wake up again. The snow started to come down harder and I had to move to keep warm. I was already trembling like a leaf and my skin was stinging and numb from the exposure to the cold air and wind. My area became covered in snow so I walked around scraping my boot along the ground to clear it out hoping to maybe make a wall that I could use for some protection from the wind since there wasn't much that I could do anything with. I cleared out an area large enough that my leash allowed me to.

That night it got really cold and the only thing that I was wearing was a baby blue v-neck sweater that was one of my favorites, a pair of jeans and my hiking boots. Everything else that I was wearing along with my other layers must have been removed while I was knocked out. I was freezing and wet; my skin stung and burned and I couldn't feel my fingers, toes, ears or nose.

I was too far away to get shelter from the house and too far away from any trees that I could branches to use to block out the snow and wind. So I tried to huddle against the post as best as I could, keeping my back to the harsh wind which was hard to do since it was coming from every direction. Slowly the dark fingers reached across my vision and I fell to sleep in the middle of the night.

I awoke sometime the next morning with a sharp pain in my side and a quick one on the opposite side of my face. When I was able to look up Thom and Howard were standing a few feet away from me and I could see Helen and Liz standing farther away, closer to the house. I tried to stand but my body felt so stiff so my movements were slow.

"Awe, you look cold. Here, let me help," Howard said as he tossed a cup full of hot steaming water in my face. I was so tired and cold that I could barely move. I tried to raise my hands up to block but I still got some scalding water on the face and in my eyes.

I let out some shrieks as the hot water came in contact with my skin and I clawed at my eyes for they hurt so much; I could hear them laughing at me as if I was providing them with entertainment. The pain of my skin was bad but my eyes hurt much worse. As I was trying to relieve the pain in my eyes I heard a crack and felt a burning sting across my back. I moved my body forward; my back arched, and threw my head back. I opened my eyes to try and look around but they stung so much that I had to close them.

I tried to stand up but someone struck me down with a kick to the back of my knees. I felt what I have guessed was a whip strike my back again followed by more kicks. The process continued again and again with a variation of kicks and punches. I could hear women laughing in the back ground. I tried to escape from the attacks but they were so numerous and in such quick succession that I wasn't able to. As I moved around I could feel some warmth return to me which made the stinging cold of my skin more noticeable from the numbness from before. I could hear them shout but I was just too confused and trying too hard to get away that I couldn't understand what was being said. The only good thing was that my eyes stopped stinging or was it that that pain was buried over the new pain. I'm not sure how long this lasted for but my back felt like it has been scraped against a cheese grater, my arms and legs stung from the slashes that they received that were probably meant for my back and I was sore from the beatings and I was exhausted from being out in the cold and trying to escape from the whip and the kicks and punches. I fell and just couldn't will myself to stand back up from my curled up position I could feel that the only thing that was probably keeping my sweater on was the collar, a small section at the bottom and top and my crossed arms.

After a while and nothing happened I assumed that they were gone. I slowly opened my eyes and uncovered my face from my arms that I had raised to try and protect myself from injury. I looked around and saw that I was alone in the clearing. As I tried to take stock of what was what I could feel something, probably blood, run down my back was the worst of my injuries. I tore my sweater the rest of the way, took it off then out it back on the other way. I lay on the ground and hoped that the pressure would stop the bleeding. I closed my eyes in attempt to block out the pain but I could feel myself start to drift between being asleep and awake. God I hurt so badly, I think that this is the one of the most painful moments I have ever felt in my whole pain filled life. I just wanted it to go away. It was a few hours later that I vaguely heard the sound of heavy plastic moving and soon I couldn't feel the wind and snow batter against my form.

Were they sheltering me? I don't have the energy to open my eyes to see what was happening. Then again it was probably better that they thought that I was out cold. Why would they do that? I had no idea. I could hear two male voices but it was difficult to understand them since they were so slurred; they were most likely drunk.

"Dis iz ta make sure that we can haz usssome more fun later," I heard Thom slur.

"Can I have ssssome real fun wid it la'er? Alls I did waz kick and pun' it 'day," Howard slurred back.

"We'll both be havin' us zome fun later and we can drag itz out for az long az we wants to," was Thom's answer.

So that was why they were 'sheltering' me, they plan on having some more fun later. I curled up into as tight as a ball as I could, despite my body's protest, and I reached up and grabbed my necklace. I'm surprised that I still have it. I thought that if they had seen it they would have taken it. I was glad that I had it though, for I held it in my hand and kept repeating a mantra in my head. '_If I don't try to survive for myself, I have to survive for them; even if it is just to see them one last time.' _I kept thinking if not for me them for them over and over again and with a sore, battered and hungry body I fell asleep.

For what I'm guessing was the next few days I was beat up and stuck with the whip all over my body. It was hard to tell for everything was just one giant torturous blur. In the constant darkness and snow, time lost all meaning. I could even feel cuts on my face and over my eyes, one of which was over my right eye; starting above the brow going over my eye down to my cheek bone. I must have got that one while trying to escape the whip that Thom was using, trying to be fancy with it to show off, and Howard who was lunging and swiping at me with a knife. I'm not sure if it was caused by the whip or the knife, all I know is that his stung like heck and I had to keep that eye closed for a while. What didn't hurt from the pain was numb from the cold. I couldn't feel my face or anything below my knees and below my forearms. I was so tired so exhausted I was surprised that I was even able to move, but I did barely notice that I continued to get slower in my movements.

Today was different though. Today instead of kicking me awake I was jerked up by my chain and they took off my collar. I would have taken that time to try and flee but I couldn't move. I was so cold and weak that I couldn't manage any movement. The hunger pains have stopped long ago, I'm not sure how long for have lost all sense of time.

After they took off my collar I was dropped to the ground where my head hit with a dull crack then I felt like I was being moved. I could tell that I was being dragged because I could feel the cold hard ground move underneath me. I could also tell that my left leg was at a weird angle and held higher than my body and my other leg at a weird, painful angel so that is how I must be being dragged. I could feel my other leg picked up and placed with the other and something hard wrapped around then before I began to move again. I slowly opened my eyes just a crack and I could just make out blurs moving (up) above me.

Then I heard the truck start as I began to feel the cold sting of the snow against my skin. It felt like I was in some deep snow for I felt like I was surrounded and I could feel more falling in around me, burying me. I just wished just to be left here trapped beneath the snow but it didn't come true. Shortly after I heard the truck rev up and start to move farther from me I felt a strong jerk on my body that was so rough that I felt a popping sensation in both of my ankles, knees and my right hip.

I could feel the snow passing me back and my back being scrapped against fallen branches, roots and rocks. After the long, rough, cold and wet ride we finally came to a stop. I heard the doors slam and someone approached me. I then felt a pain on my scalp as a hand grasped the hair on the top of my head and picked me up that way. I could feel the hairs being pulled out and it felt as though my scalp was tearing because of my weight hanging from that point.

"Wake up you lazy brat, you have work to do," Thom shouted in my ear as he roughly shook me then dropped me at his feet. When I didn't move I was kicked so that I rolled over onto my stomach. I tried my best to get up but I was just so tired that I could only manage to get up on my shaky hands and knees, with the help of some kicks to give me some lift.

"We all know that you are a bitch but we don't need you to prove that now. Get the fuck up and get your ass to work and clean out this clearing of snow," Thom said. I heard the sound of metal against metal then felt something crash on to my back, causing me to fall back into the snow. I then felt someone grab my arm and drag me somewhere then I was shoved roughly to the ground with whatever it was before dropped onto my back again. "We'll be back in a couple of hours so make sure you are done by then. Helen and Liz are in the car watching you so don't even think about going anywhere." With that I heard the motor rev and fade away.

I lay there on the ground attempting to gather my energy and I eventually got up and sat back on my knees with the help of a nearby rock and tree. It took a while for my body was so numb I couldn't even tell if I was moving. I felt so weak I wasn't aware of anything around me. It was slow work due to that and the icy surface of what I was using as handholds. I sat there and tried to open my eyes which I was able to just a tiny bit but everything was really blurry. All that I could make out were white and brown blurs. '_I'm so tired' _was the only thing besides the numbing pain that I could comprehend with my muddled mind. I grabbed onto a nearby post and slowly pulled myself up to my feet and held on until I was steady, panting heavily from the exertion.

I was really dizzy and my mind was fuzzy. I doubt that Helen and Liz were somewhere nearby but I should get to work anyways. After I gathered what energy I could I picked up the shovel, the thing that was dropped on my back, and got to work. It was long slow work and the only sound was the wind blowing through the trees and my scraps of what was left of my clothing flapping in the wind. My top half was left naked, covered in dried and newly moisturized blood, and what was left of my pants was barely enough for a pair of short shorts with a few slivers of fabric left of the legs. My skin was bright red with some other discolorations as well. The skin on my bare feet was the worse for they were a darker color than the rest, except for maybe my hands. With every movement it is like my skin is catching fire and if I had a voice I would be screaming my pain loud enough for the whole forest to know. I guess it was lucky that I couldn't even find my voice at the moment. I'm so tired.

It was practically impossible to clean out the large clearing during the middle of a blizzard but I did the best that I could. The truck eventually came back with the plow on the front pushing the snow away when I finally managed to get most of the clearing done. The worse storm seemed to have mostly passed by now but it was still snowing.

They must have not liked the work that I have done because they drove through the clearing, around everything moving the snow out of the way forming a wall around the clearing. In the smaller areas one of them, I'm not sure which grabbed the shovel out of my hands, causing some cuts to form, and shoved me against a tree. I stumbled a bit farther before I fell down unable to support myself any longer. I sat there out of the way, leaning against a tree for support.

When they were done they turn and came toward me. I tried to stand up, crawl or get away, but I couldn't. I'm just too tired. Thom came toward me and yanked me up painfully by my arms. The contact to my skin was like a million of hot needles then Howard shoved something into my gut. I leaned over where I was leaning over his arm then I felt a most painful shock and fell to the ground. I was out cold before I hit.

I woke up and after I got my eyes opened and focused I looked around. Everywhere that I looked I could see blood and the way that my body felt I wouldn't be surprised that they had some fun with my body while I was out. I could feel something warm move across my skin. I focused on my arm, the nearest source of the feeling and saw blood running down it where I felt the warmness to be which further proves my theory to be right. I knew that I was badly injured but I was past caring, past feeling. My body was just so numb and full of pain at the same time that it was like my body wasn't really there.

I moved slightly so that I could determine how my body was. My head was being held up by a chain and collar around my neck. My arms were held out to my sides and slightly above my head. I couldn't move my head due to how tightly my head was held up; I was choking at the angle I was in. I could feel shackles on my ankles and above the knees that were holding my legs apart. To prevent myself from choking I had to stand up straight on my knees.

I was on my knees, losing myself in my own little world, faintly noticing that it wasn't snowing as bad as it was before, when I was painfully brought back by a hot burning sensation right between the shoulder blades. I threw my head back and let out a scream. When I stopped I could smell the burning flesh. Helen slowly walked around in front of me with a red hot poker near her lips. Liz came around on the other side with a small charcoal grill next to her. Helen stuck the poker into the fire and pulled it back hotter than before.

"Let's see the boys had some fun with you, now it is out turn. What should we do mother," Helen 'sweetly' asked Liz as she turned toward her.

"Well dear, you have the poker and I have some bleach here," Liz said holding out a small battle of said chemical. "I think that you should burn her and I should pour some of this on the burns," she finished with a cruel smile.

Helen had the same sadistic smile on her face as she held the hot poker up and slowly began to move it toward my eyes. I tried to pull back but my restraints wouldn't allow me much movement; a few inches back at most.

"I wouldn't do that sweetie," Liz said. "It should watch everything that we do to it. Besides the boys still have one more thing to plan to do for some fun. Your father and brother need some release and they are going to get it."

They both turned toward me with those insane smiles on their faces and began to have their 'fun.' Helen moved the poker over what felt like every inch of my body. It hurt like heck and sometimes immediately after Helen burned me Liz would pour bleach over top of it. Several times I could feel and see the darkness creeping into my vision but I never slipped into the bliss that is nothing. Just as I was about to escape the pain would bring me back. My throat felt so raw from all of the screaming. All around the shackles I was sore and the cuts from them, caused by trying to escape from them, stung. I could feel a small amount of blood escape from these cuts. All of this struggling was making me weaker, but I was going on nothing but instincts at this point and my instinct were set on flee.

This occurred all day until the snow began to fall heavier so they left me there in that clearing all night. I knew that I should be dead with everything I have been through. It's been below freezing and snowing constantly but I promised myself that I would not die. I had to see the Cullen's again even if it was to tell them how much I love them before I die.

Again I wasn't sure how long I was here either but the routine was that I had to clear the area of snow, sometimes with my bare hands and sometime having to use my back against the wall that was forming to compact the snow together, then I was chained back up and Howard or Thom would use the whip on me while that other used a knife then Helen would follow up with the hot poker with Liz occasionally added bleach or something to the mix. Each day it was something different but just as painful. The pain was unbearable and I just wanted it to end. But there was a little more to come.

One day just Howard and Thom came into the clearing. The looks that I could barely make out on their faces had me slightly worried. They both had smug cocky grins on their faces and my muddled mind couldn't come up for a reason why. Thom set up a camera and I saw the little red light come on.

"Now it is time to put this bitch in its place. It has come to our attention that it has skipped work for about a month before Thanksgiving while I was having a chat with its boss. It has also occurred to me that it may have been sleeping around like the whore that it is. It should know that it only belongs to us and it is not a person." Thom said.

"I recalled seeing something that looked like hickies on it neck earlier," Howard said as he came up beside me and ran his filthy fat fingers through what was left of my hair. Sometime it had been crudely removed either by the whip, knife or just yanked out. "What is this," he asked as he grabbed hold of my necklace. I tried to fight but I couldn't move due to how tired I was and the restraints.

He yanked the chain and I felt it break against my neck and he held it out toward Thom. Thom took it and examined it. "Isn't this a pretty piece of junk. Can't be worth much if it has it," he said as he tossed the necklace away from us. I followed its path as best as I could but I could barely see anything due to Helen and Liz. Having heat next to my eyes and some bleach run into them wasn't a good thing.

"I guess we just have to show that it belongs to us," Thom said as he and Howard started to take off some of their layers and walked behind me. It took a while but when I felt one of them grab my hips after the last bit of my clothing was torn away it clicked. They were going to rape me. Despite how I felt I began to fight back as hard as I could, energy slowly began to return to me as I began to panic, but my restraints again held me immobile and let out a scream and tears as I felt one of them enter me.

It was so painful and felt like I was being split in two, but he didn't stop. It seemed in fact that my tears and screams and trying to get away just encouraged him. Even though it was freezing cold and snowing that did not stop them from raping me in different ways for the rest of the time that they were there.

I never wanted to die more in my entire life than right then. I just felt so dirty and it was so painful. That compiled with everything else that has happened to me I just wanted to die. I couldn't feel anything yet I was still in so much pain. Besides who can love me now that I am even more disfigured and no longer had my innocence, my virginity.

I'm not sure how long it lasted but I started to close up in myself and shut down so I wasn't aware what was around me when they began to put what they took off back on and packed up to leave. "Why are you so sad for," one of them asked. I couldn't make out whom through my tears that made my already blurry vision worse. "You should happy that we showed you that sort of attention."

Then I heard the other one speak. "Maybe we should put a smile on its face." I felt someone grab both sides of my face and roughly jerked my head back so that my face was to the sky. I felt the collar tighten so that my head remained in the same position. I began to panic for I didn't know what they had in mind. Then I felt something that I recognized as being a blade dig into the corners of my mouth. I tried to get away but the restraints allowed absolutely no leeway. I could feel the sting as the blades bit into my skin; I could feel the painful pinch as the person dug them around. I could feel the tears run down my face, but I could no longer make any noise. I had worn my voice out screaming as they raped me. The blades disappeared just for me to feel them again near my ears. I could feel as they were dragged down back to the pits that were created at the corners of my mouth just to be quickly followed by the hot rod, sealing the wound shut. The burning against the raw meat of my cheek felt hotter than any other and I could make out the faint sizzling of my blood and flesh. When the rod was gone I felt something so cold it felt hot being moved along the fresh burns.

"There we go, now it will always be smiling," the first voice said. I felt the collar, which was choking me because I was unable to support by own weight and the position it was on my neck and how tight it felt, be removed and I began to fall toward the ground. I was stopped by a ruff jerk on my arms, causing them to dislocate, from the shackles preventing me from collapsing to the ground. Before they left one of them whacked me in the back in the head and the other punched me in the chest, causing me to gasp. I could just barely watch them leave and before I finally gave into the darkness. I was tired of fighting. I was just so tired of it all and I wanted it to end. The last thing that cross my mind was, _'I'm sorry Edward, everyone. I'm so sorry._' Then I knew nothing else.

WELL WHAT DID YOU THINK? WAS IT OKAY? REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK. DO YOU THINK I SHOULD HAVE ADDED SOME DIALOGUE BETWEEN CARRIE AND BELLA? I WAS THINKING ABOUT IT BUT I WAN'T TO KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS THINK FIRST. I WAS GOING TO SAY SOMETHING ELSE BUT I FORGOT WHAT IS WAS BECAUSE I FORGOT TO WROTE IT DOWN AS ALWAYS SO.........REVIEW PLEASE!


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

AGAIN TO START OF i'D LIKE TO THANK THE PEOPLE WHO HELP KEEP ME GOING. THANK YOU FOR REVIEWERS: **CHIKA1345, TRIFORCEANDSHEIKAHARTS, OCEANICEAGLE**. WELL I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE TO SAY AT THE MOMENT SO ... ON WITH THE STORY.

I do not own Batman

**Chapter 24 To Want to Heal**

Edward's POV

"Carlisle," I heard Alice shout again. I have never heard her sound so desperate in all of the years that I have known her. She didn't even sound this bad when Bella was injured by James when we were in Phoenix.

I could hear her shout but it sounded as if she was a million miles away. My attention was only on the battered form of the one that I have come to love. Carrie was covered in blood that was both old and new. There are various fresh slashes and burns on her body. She was practically unrecognizable, and so far I have only seen her from the back.

Carrie's back is by far the worst of the damage so far. There are only a few streaks of skin left and some of the flesh hung like ribbons from her form. I could see what appeared to be different levels of injuries; some are close to the surface while the others are deep and gauging. In amongst these slashes are burns that appeared to be made after some slashes were made and a few looked as if they were slashed again. The stench of burned flesh still hung in the air.

Before I could even continue my evaluation of her injuries I found myself hunched over, my body lurching with dry heaves. Her injuries so far are just so horrible that my stomach is churning, disgusted about what she had to go through, what I couldn't protect her from. That and the smell of her blood throughout the clearing were too much for me to handle. I heard Alice drop by my side and felt her shaking hand rub my back in what was supposed to be a comforting manor. I could tell that she too was having trouble with what she saw and could smell. For the second time since I met Carrie I was not there for her when she needed me most.

The others approached our location as I got myself back together and straitened from my hunched over position. I could hear them all wondering what we have found. I could also sense there confusion for why I was on the ground, but before they questioned me what was wrong I heard a gasp that was quickly followed by more. They all came forward to stand on either side of Alice and me, silently taking in the sight of the clearing and Carrie's form.

Carlisle stepped toward her hesitantly, brushing the snow that has accumulated on her. "She is far too cold to the touch," I heard him murmur to himself.

"Is she alive," Esme asked in concern. It sounded as if she was on the brink of hysteria.

Carlisle slowly and hesitantly moved his hand toward Carrie's throat to check her pulse; he closed his eyes in concentration. I heard him think, _'where is it, where is it,_' as he kept his fingers pressed against her pulse point. I became worried when a grim expression appeared on his face and he didn't say anything for a couple of minutes. "Her heart is beating but just barely," he said quietly. "We must hurry if we want her to live. Her heart is beating too slowly and she is cold to the touch. Let's get her out of these restraints and wrapped up in a blanket," he said louder to us.

Esme took her bag off and brought out a large blanket that she had packed into her bag and started to lay it out on the ground. It was waterproof so she wasn't worried about it getting wet. Carlisle reached for her left arm to remove the shackle there; Emmett and Jasper moved forward to help remove the others her other arm, legs and ankles. Alice got up and moved to my right, looking at the ground as if she was looking for something. Rosalie was getting some hot water bottles out of our bags and placing them on the blanket. I remained where I was on the ground for I haven't the strength to move.

"Break the chains, we'll work on getting the shackles off her later," Carlisle said to Jasper and Emmett. The shackles could not be removed because her blood had frozen them to her skin. Therefore they couldn't be removed without causing more damage to her body and we had to wait to safely remove them.

I slowly got to my feet and approached them on unsteady legs. I reached forward and gently grabbed a hold of Carrie, one arm around her waist the other around her upper chest to support her shoulders. Her body really is ice cold, similar to ours. Her back looks and feels as if it is frozen due to all of the blood. I held her close to me as the chains were broken and she was freed. I carefully picked her up as best as I could and carried her over to the blanket to set her down. Her body was so cold and stiff that Carlisle had to gently move her limbs so that she would lay flat on the blanket and her arms by her side.

"Pack some of the hot water bottles around her form especially the head, neck, pits and groin then wrap her up tightly," Carlisle said as he demonstrated. Rosalie placed the bottles around Carrie as instructed and Esme wrapped her up tightly. She went to pick Carrie up but I quickly scooped her up into my arms. I did this because I wanted to be close to her and be there for her. Also with Carrie in my arms I would be too preoccupied to go and murder the people that had done this to her.

As we headed back home we traveled in a circle with me holding Carrie in the middle. I wanted to move faster because I was worried about her. As we traveled Carlisle came beside me a couple of times and reached into the blankets to check on Carrie. After each time he checked he told us to move faster, but still stay in a group. He wanted all of us there together.

As we arrived home we all straight toward Carrie's room so we could get to work. "Someone draw a warm bath. Don't make it too hot, we don't want to shock her body as we try to get her body temperature up," Carlisle said. Esme and I followed him into the bathroom while the others remained in the bedroom.

During the time that it took for the tub to fill with warm water Carlisle took Carrie's temperature. He stuck a thermometer in her ear and got a quick reading. "Seventy five degrees; that certainly proves that she is a stubborn one alright, normally a person would be dead if their body temperature is eighty five degrees or lower," Carlisle said. Alice and Rosalie came in and took Carrie from me so I left to the bedroom so they could put her in the tub.

As time passed all was quite in the house. Esme, Alice and Rosalie would go in and out of the bathroom from time to time with bandages, wash clothes and medicine. I tried to listen into their thoughts to see how Carrie was doing but they were blocking me from their minds. I even tried to look into Carrie's but I just got a numb blackness.

I was seated on the foot of Carrie's bed, holding my head in my hands, eyes closed. Emmett sat on the side of the bed, elbows on his knees and his head down. Jasper was sitting in the chair by the desk staring at the wall across from him with his arms propped on the back of the chair. He was no doubt tense with all of our chaotic emotions bombarding him, and his own worry was affecting us as well, just making the whole situation worse for him. Whenever someone would come out of the bathroom we would all snap our heads in their direction. I could feel tightness in my chest as I observed whoever came out for they had a look of worry and urgency on their face.

After what seemed like an eternity, which was actually only a few hours, Rosalie came out and turned the blankets of Carrie's bed down and moved the hot water bottles that were placed there out of the way. Esme came out a short time later with Carrie bundled up with a blanket in her arms and placed her in the bed. The hot water bottles were placed around her body and the blankets pulled up to her chin. Carlisle emerged soon after with a trash bag full of bloody rags and bandages. I could hear Alice cleaning up in the bathroom. Rosalie soon reemerged with the bloody chains in her hands. I noticed most of the shackles were still intact so they must have been slid off. There were two that were hanging open, probably the ones that were around her ankles.

After Esme had Carrie all tucked in I went over to the side of the bed and sat on her left. All I could see was her face yet I still felt anger boiling within me. Her eyes and cheeks were sunk in and she had rings darker than ours around her eyes. From what I could see of her hair it appears to have been crudely hacked off. I could see bald spots where chunks of hair have been pull out. There were more cuts and burns on her face, including small gauges at the corners of her mouth that looked like someone was pressing the tip of a knife there and burns around her eyes. But the more gruesome of the injuries were a couple of long, thick, probably infected burn marks that went from the corners of her mouth to her ears. It looked like someone tried to make her look like the Joker from Batman. There was also a cut over her right eye that was vertical; starting right above the brow and went down, over the eye lid, to just below her cheek bone.

I was so angry at what I was seeing yet I also have never felt more like crying in my entire existence. It was so heart breaking to see her like this, I felt so terrible that I was unable to protect her and prevent the pain that she must have gone through. I shakily held my hand out to brush some hair out of her face. Esme was sitting on the other side of her with her hand slowly rubbing the area where Carrie's stomach would be. The others were crowded around the bed and even though I didn't have the powers that Jasper has I could feel the sadness and the worry emanating from them. Carlisle came back into the room and stood behind Esme with his hands on her shoulders.

"How is she Carlisle," Emmett asked.

Carlisle let out and large sigh before he said anything. "She's in severe hypothermia and we're having trouble getting her body temperature back up. On top of being beaten severely with what appears to be a whip along with a small blade and a hot metal rod she is really emaciated. She is so thin that you can see her ribs very prominently; when we weighed her we estimated her weight to be around eighty to ninety pounds. It is not good that she lost so much weight that rapidly."

"As stated before her heart is beating dangerously slow. It is beating a little faster but it is still too slow and it is beating in slightly irregular way. Her breathing is very shallow as well, almost as if they are not functioning. In a way she is on deaths door."

"Shouldn't we change her," Rosalie questioned, the others murmured in agreement. I was glad that I was not the only one scared to lose her.

Carlisle dropped his head and let out another sigh. "At this point in time I'm not sure if she would even survive the transformation process. Her body is so weak and there are other injuries. I'm not sure of what damage there has been internally, by appearances she hasn't eaten at all in the last week or so."

"What other injuries are you referring to Carlisle," I asked. This is the first thing I have said since Aro left the house. What Carlisle has said has me even more worried. Carrie is in such bad shape and we cannot even attempt to change her because the process will most likely kill her at this point in time.

"Well as of right now her body is in a coma like state or a hibernating state, we won't more accurately know what state her body is until she is warmed up more and she comes out of this." Carlisle seemed unwilling to continue with his explanation, but Esme lightly squeezed his hand in reassurance.

Carlisle stepped away from her and closer to Carrie. He moved his hand toward her eyes and lifted her eyelids. We all let out a gasp at what we saw. Carrie's eyes appeared as if they too have been burned. They were black and red and appeared to be infected. "As you can see it would be surprising if she isn't completely blind. These injuries appear to have been inflicted only a few days ago."

Carlisle removed his hand from her eyes and gently brushed his hand back over her head a couple of times. "Is that all Carlisle," Rosalie asked.

"Odd enough that you are the one to ask that question Rosalie," Carlisle said. We all sent him curious looks wondering how anything could be funny at a time like this.

"Forgive me for my small moment of twisted humor. What I meant by that was that Carrie has been sexually abused and assaulted in a rough way. Most likely some damage has occurred and she is still lightly bleeding. If we were in a hospital I would have a blood transfusion done for she has lost so much if the clearing is anything to go by. I'm slightly surprised that she is still able to bleed. That also suggested that it occurred most recently, within the past twenty four hours or so."

"Also if she does come out of this she will be in severe pain. She was out exposed in this weather for an extended period of time and it appears that she has severe frost bite. Her skin is already slightly discolored and it will get worse when her body temp increases and more tissue dies. Her back will be the worse because of the muscle damage and exposure. What muscle has been exposed will blacken with decay and be dead tissue that will have to be removed to prevent any type of blood poisoning. And as far as I can tell no bones are broken this time around."

"Shouldn't we change her when she gets better, at least to save her some pain," Esme asked in worry.

"I don't know dear, we will just have to wait and see," Carlisle replied. We all sat or stood around the bed as the sun finally rose over the horizon.

Alice then snapped her fingers causing our attention to turn toward her. She stood up and walked over to me while pulling something out of her pocket. She stopped and held her closed fist out toward me, palm down. "This is what she was going to grab off of the ground," she said. I immediately remembered the vision that she had last month during our camping trip. I hesitantly held my hand out under hers. She slowly opened her hand and I felt something fall into mine. She pulled away and I brought my hand closer to see what was so important to Carrie.

There in my hand was the necklace that I had given Carrie on our first and only official date. It was dirt and blood covered, some had rubbed off from being wet from the snow and being in Alice's pocket but there was still a lot there. As I looked at it and noticed that the chain and been broken. It was most likely pulled off of her neck and tossed away. I closed my fist tightly around the necklace, held it to my chest and turned back toward Carrie; hoping and praying that she would wake soon.

At around eight o'clock Carlisle took Carrie's temperature again. The reading this time was only a little over eighty degrees. "She should be warming up faster than this," he said. He had Rosalie take her to the bathroom to give her another bath; he allowed warmer water this time. When Rose and Alice finished Carrie's bath Carlisle went in to put more medicine on her injuries and re-bandaged them.

Alice carried her out and I noticed that her hair had been cut off close to the scalp. I also noticed that there were fresh stitches on her head that closed up a gash that went from the base of her skull on the right side and came around up the left side and finished on the top of her head on the right side. Alice placed her on the bed and I tucked her in. Rosalie left the room and came back in shortly afterwards and placed a knit hat that she was carrying on Carrie's head.

I sat on the bed next to Carrie so that my back was against the head board. While they were busy in the bathroom I went to my room and got some CDs to play in Carrie's stereo. I remembered how much she loved music and she would listen to it to make her feel better. Currently classical music was on and one of her favorites was playing: Vivaldi's Four Seasons. I also thought the music would make things seem less dreary. I hoped that Carrie could hear this, maybe it could help. She did always describe music as being therapeutic.

Currently it was only Alice, Jasper and I in the room. Alice was sitting at the foot of the bed, leaning against one of the banisters that held up the canopy. Her eyes were closed in concentration. She was trying to look to see what the outcome of all of this would be. Jasper, who was sitting in a chair next to Alice, and I were also trying to use our gifts to notice any change in her state. I was still getting the numb blackness and Jasper is getting much the same he got from her when she moved here, a numb emptiness.

Esme came in carrying a tray from which I could smell chicken broth in the bowl upon it. Esme placed the try on the bedside table. "Help me sit her up," Esme said as she sat on the edge of the bed facing the headboard on the side opposite of me. We both mange to arrange her so that she was still wrapped up in blankets but leaning against me as I was sitting up against the headboard.

We were sitting so that Esme could have the tray in her lap and to be able to feed Carrie, and I could hold her up. Jasper had left during the process but Alice remained. Before Esme could even attempt to feed her Alice grabbed a trash bin and stood right next to the bed. We looked at her questionably but she just responded with an, "You're going to need this."

Esme took a spoonful of broth and after cooling it down held it toward Carrie's mouth. I took my right hand and pried it open. Esme emptied the spoons contents in her mouth and I before I could close her mouth the broth leaked out and down her front. After the mess was cleaned up we tried it again. This time I had her head slightly tilted back so none of the broth could leak out. When the broth was in her mouth I placed my hand over it and tilted her head back some more.

That didn't work to well either for that caused Carrie to start coughing and sputtering. After a few more failed attempts we figured out a way to get her to swallow the broth without choking. We had about half of the bowl when Alice said, "Ah oh. You might want to move her closer to the bin." I quickly complied without complaint.

For a few seconds I just held her there with her head over the trash bin and nothing happened. I was about to pull her away when I heard some gurgling and stomach rolling sound. Sure enough what we had managed to get her to eat came right back up after which she had the dry heaves for a few minutes.

Esme left and came back with Carlisle and he attempted to feed her. After a few more failed attempts and two fresh bowls of broth we managed to get so that she didn't throw it up afterwards. "We're going to have to give her small amount frequently. If we can't get her to eat and hold it down we are going to have to take her to the hospital for a feeding tube. That won't be ideal because how are we going to explain all of this," he said. This new development had him concerned even more.

So a pattern was established. Every couple of hours Carrie would be given a hot bath in hopes of raising her body temperature faster, which Carlisle was still worried about, and then she was fed a small amount of broth. We are able to get about ten tablespoons in her before she would bring it back up. Carlisle was worried about this as well but he said a little bit was better than nothing.

The days passed and it was time for us to go back to school and Carlisle to go back to work. During the past few days my siblings and I have spent most of the time at Carrie's bed side. Last night Esme finally talked me into going out to hunt. My eyes have been black with thirst since Aro left and I haven't once left Carrie's side. The others tried to get me to hunt to get rid of my thirst but I told them I could handle it. But I left to hunt last night so I could go to school and not endanger anyone.

Today we went to school in my car with Alice driving for I didn't think it would be safe for me to do so. I was reluctant to leave the house for I wanted to be by Carrie's side. Esme said that I shouldn't miss school but I told her that it wouldn't make any difference for I've already completed school several times and I'll have to do it again in a few years anyway. I lost that one so here I am sitting in the back seat between Rosalie and Jasper on our way to school.

I had trouble concentrating in school for my mind was back at home wondering if Carrie was alright. During biology Bella asked me where Carrie was at but I just ignored her. It was currently lunch time and we were sitting at our table which seemed so empty and quiet without her there. Alice attempted to get me into a conversation but I just continued to stare at Carrie's empty seat.

I was brought out of the staring when the cafeteria suddenly got quite. I looked up and noticed that the principal was walking toward us and everyone was silently watching him. We all sat up straighter as he arrived at our table and before any greetings were exchanged he spoke.

"I just received an urgent call from your mother. She said that she wants all of you home right away and that your father is already there. She said that things have taken a turn for the worse and that you would know what I was talking about." As he said this he had a curious look on his face and I could hear the confusion from everyone else in the cafeteria.

I stood up so fast that I knocked my chair over. I felt someone grab my arm, probably to keep me from going too fast to seem human. The others got up quickly and we left a room full of curious people. The others formed a circle around me with Emmett on my right still holding on my arm and Jasper on my left. Alice was in front of me, keys in hand and Rosalie was behind me.

When we got to the car Emmett forced me into the back seat and him and Jasper got in quickly on both sides. Alice backed out quickly and tore out of the parking lot, heading toward home. Meanwhile thousands of possible scenarios ran through my head. What was wrong? Why had Carrie taken a turn for the worst? Is she okay? These and many more ran through my head.

Before the car even stopped completely in front of the house I climbed over Jasper and out of the door. I didn't even bother to open the front door I just knocked it down. I paused briefly knowing that Esme loved that door but I just pushed that thought aside and headed up the stairs.

When I entered the room I started to panic when I saw that Carrie's bed was empty. It was then that I heard something that sounded like a struggle coming from the bathroom. I hurried to the door and threw it open.

There I was slightly shocked at what I saw. A slightly wet Esme and Carlisle were holding Carrie down in the water filled tub. She appeared to be struggling against their grip but she was too weak and they were too strong. When Esme noticed that I was there she looked at me relieved. "Are the others here as well," she asked. Her question was answered by the others entering the bathroom.

"What's wrong with her," Alice asked worried for her friend and sister. Her thoughts were along the line of that she didn't see anything happening and it scared her not knowing what was going to happen.

"I went to check on her and I noticed that she was slightly sweating so I took her temperature. It read 99 degrees and it has been steadily climbing since then so I called Carlisle. I figured that if I didn't tell you guys about it you would be angry with me so I called the school and told the principal to send you home," Esme informed them. I was confused as to why they had her in the tub. 99 degrees is a decent temp, so why?

"What is her temperature now," Carlisle asked still holding Carrie still.

Esme let go, leaving only Carlisle to hold Carrie, and grabbed the thermometer. After about a minute she got a reading. "Her temp is 101 degrees, two degrees higher than what it was less than an hour ago.

"Her fever is climbing too fast. Someone, get me some fever reducer," Carlisle ordered. Alice went over to the medicine cabinet and grabbed said medicine and went over to Carrie. As instructed she opened Carrie's mouth and shoved the pills to the back of the throat, held her mouth shut and rubbed her throat to get her to swallow. Also Carlisle had Esme give her some sleep medicine to make sure that she stayed asleep.

After she was put into some dry clothes, since she was put into the tub with them on, Carrie was then placed back into bed wrapped up in hopes to help to break her fever. For the next couple of days we stayed at home and Carlisle left instructions of what to do if anything should happen and if they don't work to call him and work.

Carrie's heart beat has started to beat faster and the irregular beating was more noticeable to our sensitive ears. Her breathing was still shallow and was more labored than usual. I haven't left her side since we came home and the others would come in from time to time and sit with her but I was always there in case she needed me.

I was currently laying on the bed next to her, on my right side facing her with my arm around her. I worry that she won't wake up and leave me forever, sounds out of character a bit doesn't it. I asked Carlisle about changing her but he still won't do it and he has forbidden anyone else from doing so. Therefore I'm just lying here waiting for her to wake up.

As I was watching Carrie I noticed that her color began to pale to that of a white sheet and yet her skin began to slowly flush. As I watched she became paler and the flush more prominent. Her head started to roll side to side and she made little, weak noised in the back of her throat. I brought my hand up to her head and felt her brow; it was wet with sweat and was warm to the touch. I got up and went to the bathroom and grabbed the thermometer to take her temp.

When I got a reading I yelled for Esme, who arrived almost immediately followed closely by Alice and Jasper. Emmett and Rosalie went to the school to get all of our assignments for the week.

"What's wrong," Esme asked worryingly. I just tossed her the thermometer which still displayed the reading that I just took. 103.5, the thermometer read. "Quick we need to get her cooled down. Alice, go fill the tub with cool water. Someone use your body to try and cool her down, use skin on skin contact if you have to. Someone get some ice packs and have them ready."

We all moved to do as we were told while Esme went off to look for stronger fever reducer. Carrie was currently still tucked into bed but she was wearing a thin black t-shirt with red shorts, while I had on blue pajama pants and a white t-shirt. I went over and removed the blankets off of her form.

I could feel the heat rolling off of her and could tell that she was slightly shivering. I could hear that her breathing was slightly more labored as well. It sounded as if she was trying to breathe while standing in a small closet surrounded by thick fur coats. I picked her up and she seemed to shy away from my touch but I held her tight to me.

I carried her to the bathroom where Alice had just finished filling the tub with water and I went to place her in the water, clothes and all. Carrie just flexed away from the water with a small, quiet whine. I slowly lowered her into the water and she started to struggle and let out more whines that were a bit louder.

I quickly moved her a bit from the water only to try to lower her into it again. The more that Carrie's skin touched the water the more that she struggled and the more water that got on the floor. Alice and I rearranged ourselves so that she had a hold of her legs and I was holding Carrie up by her shoulders.

The more that she fought the louder and more desperate her screams became; despite us having a hold of her she was still thrashing and water was everywhere. Jasper came in with some ice packs but they were soon abandoned as he came to help us hold her down and still to prevent her from hurting herself more. Carrie got a quick reprieve when Esme came in with the medicine.

I brought Carrie into my lap as I sat in a chair that was close to the tub. I held her trembling form close to my own as Esme took her temp again. 104.3. I was getting more worried because I knew that at that temp things can start shutting down and 108 is lethal. Esme forced some fever reducer into Carrie and held some ice packs to her form.

Even with this Carrie was struggling. I heard sounds of light footfalls and I turned to look at the door just as Emmett and Rosalie came in. They had a worried look on their faces.

"What's wrong now," Rosalie asked standing in the doorway with her hands folded across her chest. She was not looking at Carrie; it was probably too hard for her. Her thoughts only confirmed this.

"She has a fever that has spiked dangerously high. We are trying to cool her off now," Jasper said as he tried to feed Carrie some ice cubes.

"We should get her back into the tub," Carlisle said as he stepped into the bathroom. His appearance slightly startled me since I hadn't heard his approach. He came toward us and began to check Carrie over. He took her temp again and it read 104.

"Let's try a different approach because we really need to cool her down or at least prevent her fever from getting any higher. Edward, give Carrie to someone else and go change into some swim trunks. I have an idea," Carlisle said.

I was about to argue but he just shot me a look and I swallowed what I was about to say. I stood up and handed her to Emmett who held her close, tucked into his arms. I went into my room and changed as Carlisle had commanded. I had to stop myself when I began reminiscing about our camping trip. When I came back into the bathroom I noticed that it was empty save for Carlisle, Esme, Alice and Emmett who was holding Carrie.

"Have a seat in the tub Edward," Carlisle said and I did as he said. Emmett came over and set Carrie so that she was lying back against me and I wrapped my arms around her thin frame. My arms were pinning hers to her side and I used my legs to hold hers down. Emmett left when Alice started the tub again.

When the cold water touched her she began to thrash and when she couldn't get away she began to scream. It was so heart breaking to hear her scream, it sounded as if she was being tortured. Her screams eventually subsided to whines and coughs and soon she wore herself out.

I sat there holding her as Alice and Esme poured water over her body and head. The latter of which caused more screams to begin again. To try and soothe her I began to whisper in her ear to reassure her and to let her know that I was there.

This went on for the next couple of days, most of which were spent in the tub. Carrie's fever was going up and down constantly. One scary moment was when her temp spiked to a little over 106; we had to pack her into ice water. But finally her fever broke on the third day. During this whole fiasco Carlisle had diagnosed Carrie of having a severe case of pneumonia for which there was no medicine that could really help.

"Will she pull through," I found myself asking him.

"Well it is really up to her, she will have to want to live in order to pull through. But don't worry, she is a stubborn one so she'll be okay," he told me as he placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. Together we stood there watching Carrie as she fought against an illness that we cannot help her with.

WORDS - 6,070 or so

WELL WHAT YA THINK? REVIEW TO LET ME KNOW. WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO CARRIE? WILL SHE EVER WAKE UP? AND IF SHE DOES IN WHAT STATE WILL SHE BE IN? STAY TUNED TO FIND REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW - AS PASSIONATECROWRAT HAS TOLD ME TO DO ^_^


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO MY FAITHFUL REVIEWERS **CHIKA1345, TRIFORCEANDSHEIKAHARTS**, AND** OCEANICEAGLE. **I'M SLOWING INCHING TOWARD 100 REVIEWS, I'M NOT THERE YET BUT I'M GETTING THERE. WOOHOO. :D

OH DID ANY ONE CATCH THE TV SHOW REFERENCE QUOTE A COUPLE OF CHAPTERS AGO. IF YOU DID SEND TO ME OR MENTION THE QUOTED PART AND WHICH SHOW IT IS FROM. THE WINNER GETS THE NEXT CHAPTER DEDICATED TO THEM. IT WAS CHAPTER 23 I THINK SO IF YOU THINK YOU'VE FOUND IT LET ME KNOW TO GET THE DEDICATION, EVEN THOUGH ITS IS ALWAYS FOR MY FAITHFUL REVIEWERS, WELL ALL REVIEWERS, ANYWAYS JUST LET ME KNOW IF YOU'VE FOUND IT. HAPPY HUNTING AND READING. HOPEFULLY THIS COMES OUT OKAY MY COMPUTER IS ON THE FRITZ AGAIN AND MT GRAMMAR AND SPELLING CHECK IS GONE ...AGAIN AHHH

**CHIKA I WANT FLUFFY**

I WAS THINKING OF ADDING SOME DRAWINGS, LIKE CARRIE IN HER CAVE CRYING, THE HALLOWEEN COSTUMES, STUFF LIKE THAT. WHAT DO YOU READERS THINK? ANYONE INTERESTED IN TRYING? I MIGHT TRY IT BUT I'M NOT THE GREATEST AT DRAWING. I CAN SEE THE PICTURES IN MY MIND BUT HAVE TROUBLE PUTTING THEM TO PAPER. WHAT DO YOU THINK? DRAWINGS OR NO?

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Ch 25 Unexpected Occurrences

Edward's POV

It has been two weeks since Carrie's fever broke but she was still asleep in a coma like state. Carlisle believed that she was like this for her body is still trying to heal itself. But, it could also be her mind. I don't pretend to know what rape and torture victims go through emotionally but it has happened before. The mind is broken too much after such an ordeal that it shuts down to protect itself. With the trauma to both her body and her mind it shut down to protect itself from further harm.

As feared Carrie does have frost bite on most of her body the worst of which was her extremities and back. However Carlisle thought that it was a good sign that her back was bleeding which meant the damage may not be as bad as it was feared to be or her body was trying to fight against it. This was only proven each day when her bandages were changed the tissue and her skin began to look better as if it was healing. Even her eyes which have been wrapped and compresses applied to began to look better, but her sight was still questionable. Carlisle was surprised at her recovery so far when he saw the differences and noticed that her body was healing itself, but again everything is still questionable.

It was the weekend and we were all currently sitting in Carrie's room since it was dinner time. We are now able to get Carrie to eat about half a bowl of broth without her getting sick. Even though Carrie is not well we still get together around dinner time and we usually stay in her room for a little while.

Currently Carrie was sleeping fitfully as though she was having a nightmare. I concentrate on her mind to see what was bothering her so much. What I saw made me gasp in horror.

"What is it Edward," Jasper asked feeling the horror in my emotions.

"She's dreaming," I said shaking with rage at what her transgressors had put her through.

"Of what," Rosalie asked her voice and thoughts quiet.

"Of what happened to her," I responded my eyes watching her sleeping form.

"Can you show us," Carlisle asked softly.

"I can try," I told him. I received a nod in return.

I turned toward Carrie and closed my eyes. I was unsure if I am able to do such a thing because I have never done this before. Usually I just hear everything but concentrate on a single person for their thoughts and sight to be stronger and more clear than the others. First I tried to connect my mind with the others, it took a few tries but I finally felt as though there was a line connecting all of us and then I connected with Carrie's. First there was darkness then images started to appear. Parts of it were clear while others were blurry.

Things slowly started to come into better focus as I struggled to keep all of the connections together. I was still unsure of how and why I can do it but I brushed these thoughts aside as I continued to concentrate on the matter at hand. It appeared as if the dream started again for currently we were watching from her prospective as we told her that she couldn't come over to our home. It wasn't completely in color; there were patches of black and white. Also most of the time there wasn't any sound, but we caught occasional glimpses of conversation. There was also some slight murmuring in the background that was too fuzzy to make out.

We watched as things moved literally in fast forward to the last dinner that we had together and our walk together. I was saved some embarrassment when her dream jumped to the next morning as we said goodbye. I watched as my form slowly stepped away from her. It also appeared as if it was playing at different times for there was multiples of me backing away from her at separate times.

Again it fast forward to where she was digging a hole in the frozen ground and she was hit from behind. Then we watched her torture in black and white. The only color was her red blood, their eyes which shone dark black and a white gleam with hate, their breath came out like a yellow cloud, the whip a streak of green and the hot metal rod which burned a bright orange.

During the dream we could feel what she is feeling and we could also feel some of the pain that she went through. Even that felt like it was diluted, a faint echo of what it once was, but it still felt like heck. We watched as she was whipped then dragged behind a truck to the clearing in which we found her. Everything that occurred seemed to happen in a kaleidoscope like affect which was very dizzying. The continuance of her torture, her having to clean the clearing of snow when she couldn't even stay on her feet, her shivering at the freezing temperatures, we saw everything. We saw what she was being forced to relive in her dreams.

I could feel the anger build inside of me when we came to the part where she was raped; I wanted to turn away yet I wanted to know what happened to her so I could properly punish those involved. The things that stood out the most was the necklace which was pulled off of her neck, which glowed a radiant gold, and her tears that welled up in her eyes which were a teal blue and caused everything else to appear that way as well. Soon everything went black and cold but before it did we all heard "I'm sorry." When the dream appeared to begin again I pulled us out.

"Oh the poor dear," Esme said, sounding close to tears as she moved so that she was next to Carrie arms wrapped around her as best as she could. Rosalie stormed out of the room and Emmett followed her. She must have been reminded of what happened to her around the time that she was changed. The rest of us stayed near her for the rest of the night.

For the past week we have been attending school since Carrie was apparently out of the woods. Due to the cold infection couldn't set into her wounds so her body didn't have to fight against that as well. Some of the teachers have asked us where Carrie was at all we told her that she had fallen ill during break and that she would be back when she was better. We collected Carrie's homework and did it for her so her grades wouldn't drop, but she is going to need some major tutoring when she got better. During biology Bella even asked me about her.

"So why isn't Carrie here Edward," she asked.

"She is sick with pneumonia," I told her without bothering to look at her.

"When is she going to come back? Is she okay," Bella questioned her tone even sounded concerned.

"Why do you care? I thought that you didn't like her," I snapped.

"Well she didn't ridicule me or anything when she found out I was pregnant. In fact she was very helpful. I began to like her as a friend so naturally I'm worried," she said.

"She is being taken care of," I told her as I got up and left for lunch.

As what has become tradition we all head to the pay phone and call home to check to see how Carrie is doing. Esme seemed happier today for she said that Carrie appeared better and might be waking up soon. She also asked us to stop by the market on the way home to get some more broth and soft foods.

After we school we piled into my Volvo and headed to the market as requested then headed home. When we got home we were surprised to see Bella's truck parked in front of the house. I took a deep breath and could smell the wolf. I let out a groan, wondering why they were here, especially Black.

I got the bags out of the trunk while the others went in. I soon followed heading toward the kitchen to put the things away. I could hear Alice greeting Bella warmly then start chatting animatedly. When I finished I went to the living room where everyone else was to at least greet Esme. I briefly noted that Jacob was taller and more muscular but I didn't linger on the fact long.

"There you are Edward dear. How was school," she asked.

"Fine Esme," I replied standing next to where she was sitting.

"Now Bella dear, what have you come here to see us about," Esme asked.

"Well I came here to see Carrie. I tried asking the others about her but I didn't get very helpful answers," Bella replied while giving us a slight glare. I was mentally wincing at the barbs that Jacob was thinking about. He was calling us everything thing in the book. It wouldn't be so bad of he wasn't practically screaming them.

"What makes you think that she is here and not at home," Rosalie asked her with a bit of venom in her voice. She is still not too friendly toward Bella.

"I remembered the scars on her arms that night in the café. I also remember the way that she looked after Halloween. So don't insult my intelligence," Bella said her tone angry but lacking the venom that Rosalie had.

"You can tell that she hung around Carrie alright. She's sounds like her," Emmett said with a little chuckle.

"Or maybe she is getting a little backbone," Rosalie said. Jacob, who was sitting next to Bella on the sofa, gained a darker frown on his face.

"Now behave children," Esme said lightly chiding us. My siblings and I murmured an apology.

"Is she here," Bella questioned quietly after a short silence.

"She is," I said tersely.

"Can I see her," she asked. We all looked toward Esme who in turned looked at me. Apparently it would be my decision.

I let out a sigh then said, "Fine," and turned around and headed toward the stairs. I heard the others move to follow. When I came to her closed door I took a moment to compose myself. To be polite I knocked on the door before entering, just in case.

I walked into her room over to the curtains on the windows to open them up a bit more. I turned toward the bed and saw that Alice was pulling back the curtains around the bed so we could all have better access to Carrie. I took my usual place on her left side and Alice took hers at the foot of the bed against one of the banisters. Esme took her seat next to the bed, Emmett was standing at the foot of the bed and Jasper and Rosalie were over by the desk.

Bella slowly made her way into the room with Jacob right behind her. He was still looking at us in distrust and his thoughts were complaining about our scent and wondering why Bella wanted to come here, but there was curiosity as well for what had her so worried. When she was next to the bed and she saw Carrie she let out a gasp, bringing her hands up to her face. Even Jacob seemed somewhat shocked. "What happened to her," Bella asked looking to each of us. We remained silent unwilling to answer her inquiry.

"You don't want to know," I said.

"If I didn't I wouldn't be asking," she snapped back.

"Man she hasn't been pregnant for that long and she is already having mood swings," I heard Emmett mutter. Jacob must have heard for he sent a glare his way.

"Won't someone please tell -" she began before she was cut off by Jasper.

"She was beaten, tortured, starved and raped while others were enjoying the holidays," he said shortly. Bella turned to him in confusion but we remained silent so that what Jasper said could set in. We watched as her eyes widened and her eyes snapped back towards Carrie.

"Why didn't you guys do anything to save her? It is obvious that you care about her so why are you not doing anything about this," Bella questioned but it sounded more like an accusation.

"We couldn't," Alice told her trying to placate her.

"And why not," Bella demanded while looking between Alice and me.

"We couldn't because we had company," I said. I saw that she was about to protest again but I continued before she could interrupt. "We had a visit from the Volturri. You remember them right?'

"The vampire royalty," she said breathlessly as the color drained from her face. Jacob stepped closer to her and gently wrapped his arms around her so that she wouldn't fall all the while giving me the dirtiest glare and his thoughts got louder with anger and concern, but he was wise to not voice them. "How bad is it? Will she be okay," Bella questioned quietly after she gained some color back into her face.

"What you see on her face is basically the same as everywhere else, and for lack of better words her back looks like hamburger," a voice said coming from the door. Bella and Jacob turned around quickly to see Carlisle standing in the door way. When he comes home from work, which has been earlier than usual, his first stop is to check on Carrie. "Hello Bella. It has been a while since we have seen you around here. Is everything going okay with you and the baby," he asked.

"Oh hi Carlisle, I'm doing fine. This is Jacob Black my boyfriend and fiancé," she introduced. Carlisle nodded in his direction with a smile on his face and Jacob nodded back with a scowl still on his face.

"So you came to check up on Carrie right?" Bella nodded. "Well she is not completely out of the woods yet. She has been unconscious since we found her. She was in severe hypothermia which we had trouble warming her up from that. We had some scary moments when her temp spiked dangerously high. It was then that I diagnosed her with severe pneumonia, which she is still fighting; her fever broke only recently. We have only been able to feed her a little bit at a time. She most likely has frost bite and there is a chance that she may be blind," Carlisle finished as he came to stand next to Esme.

"Who did this," Jacob asked. We all looked at him in surprise for we did not figure that he would speak at all.

"Her father, step-mother, which is her aunt, and step brother and sister, who are actually her cousins," Rosalie said.

"That…is just plain wrong. Are you guys going to do anything," Jacob asked.

"What can we do," I snapped at him. "We can't change her, theres the treaty and the chance is still too great that she won't even survive the transformation. I can't do anything to the people who did this for I don't want to ruin the treaty. There is nothing that can make up for the pain that she has had to go through by their hands for her whole life." I had to stop before I became too upset.

I heard a light moaning sound coming from Carrie and I along with the others turned to look down at her. Her brow was furrowed and her head was slightly rolling side to side. "Carrie sweetie, can you hear me," Esme asked her as she got up and sat at the edge of the bed. We all moved closer to see what would happen.

Her lips were moving so I leaned forward to hear what she was saying. I pulled away when she finished speaking, a look of confusion on my face. "What did she say," Emmett asked.

I remained silent, staring at Carrie. "Edward," Esme quietly asked me.

"She said…that she was sorry. That is the only thing tht I was able to make out, the rest was mumbles," I told them. Carrie began to make the mumbles again but they were loud enough where we all heard them. When she finished Jacob seemed to stiffen.

"What's wrong Jacob," Bella asked. His response was saying something the way that Carrie had said, just a bit clearer so it was easily identified as an actual language.

"What she said something," Rosalie asked confused.

"What did she say Jacob," Carlisle asked curious.

"It's an old saying that sometimes goes along with the story of the sacrifice of the third wife of Taha Aki. Roughly translated it means something along the lines of 'sometimes with death comes true power.' If you lose something important and dear you can feel something that you have never felt before. In the legend when the third wife stabbed herself to distract a cold one, her sons in anger were able to take their spirit wolf forms even though they were not yet men," he informed us. "How would she know that?"

We had no idea. We stood there waiting for her to say something more but Carrie seemed to slip back into her previous coma like state. Some chatter was made but we were mainly silent. Bella and Jacob left about an hour later and we all went our separate ways. I as usual never left Carrie's side.

It has been a few days since Bella and Jacob had stopped by and Carrie has yet to wake up. Carlisle just finished her check up and said that Carrie was healing quite nicely, but she will still most likely be in pain when she wakes up. He was still uncertain about her eyes though, he said that we would have to wait and see. No pun intended.

I was laying next to Carrie on her bed when I heard the doorbell rang and I sat up in curiosity. I could sense that Bella and Jacob was at the door along with…Chief Swan? Why was he here? I got up and left the room, closing the door behind me. I walked so that I was at the railing that overlooked the living room.

I watched as Esme escorted everyone in and they had a seat. "What can I do for you this evening Chief Swan," Carlisle asked as he entered the living room. Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett came up and stood next to me by the railing. Alice was down below greeting Bella.

"I'm sorry to be bothering you like this but something has been brought to my attention. I received a call from my old pal Billy Black. He told me that he overheard a conversation between Bella and Jake when she was visiting and he heard something peculiar. He said that he heard something about a girl in your care here in your home that has been harmed by her family. He said that I should check up on it."

"When Bella came home later that night, I asked her about it and she said that she didn't know anything about it. I let it go because I want to trust Bells, but the next day I did some more investigating. My curiosity has been peeked and I learned about a girl at the high school hasn't been showing up."

"After asking some questions I found out that this girl is the same one that I met one when her and her family first moved here. That meeting has always bugged me. Something about the whole experience just didn't seem right and has been rubbing me the wrong way ever since. Then I remembered that Bella came to me once concerned about her, so I decided to check it out again."

"I went to the house just to find that no one was home. I looked around the property and I found some disturbing things, like chains and posts with blood on it. I came home to ask Bella if she knew anything about it. Again she said that she didn't know anything and left with Jacob. I went against what I normally do and I followed her here and I figured as long as I was here I would ask you what you knew about it since it was mentioned that you might know something about it and the girl is close to your family," Charlie said.

We all seemed to hesitate before Charlie continued, "You don't have to worry about getting into trouble, and I just want to get to the bottom of this." Carlisle let out a deep sigh before he began to explain to Charlie about Carrie. He started with how we became friends and Carrie's bleak life began to be uncovered. Carlisle explained how she became an unofficial part of the family.

When he came to how Carrie was injured after Halloween he took a folder out of the briefcase that he had with him and gave it to Charlie. I could tell that it was Carrie's medical folder from that time, x-rays and all complete with pictures. I'm not sure when he took those, maybe when they were bandaging her up. Carlisle told Charlie about how Carrie had stayed with us with her own room and everything.

When it came to the most recent part it was explained that we went to her house to see her despite the blizzard as it just finished passing through. He explained that we, his children, knew that she stayed somewhere in the woods and came upon the small clearing in the back and eventually came upon the clearing that she was in and brought her home.

"If you knew that all of this was going on why didn't you come forward with this information to the proper authorities," Charlie asked confused at out actions. '_The Cullen's are usually such responsible people so why have they tried to handle this themselves,_' was the thought that I was able to pick up from him.

"She begged us not to. Carrie said that as soon as she turned 18 that she would get away from them. She was worried that she wouldn't be able to pay us back and stuff like that," Carlisle said, not exactly telling the truth, as he looked up at me and nodded. With that nod he gave us his permission to try to use our gifts to try and sway Charlie so that everything will work if things were to go south. Usually we don't do things like this but we have been doing a lot of things that are different from the norm so we need to do anything and everything to keep the identity of what we are a secret.

"So she is here, isn't she," Charlie half questioned, half stated. Carlisle nodded. "I would like to see her."

"Right this way then Chief Swan," Carlisle said as he stood up and held his left arm out to his side to show Charlie to the stairs.

When he got up to where I was Charlie said, "Edward," with a slight nod of his head.

"Chief Swan," I replied with a nod of the head as well. We all followed them to Carrie's room. We listen as Charlie questioned about her and Carlisle informed him on her condition since she was brought here. Carlisle even showed Charlie the wrapped injuries; Carrie was even place on her stomach and some of the bloody bandages were removed so Charlie could see some the damage done.

"I'm still wondering why she wasn't taken to the hospital or why she isn't there now," he said as he looked at Carrie.

"We were afraid of how we are going to explain all of this," Alice said quietly. She was in the room along with Esme to help Carlisle move Carrie around so he could more easily show Chief Swan her injuries.

"Her injuries and the state in which we found her were so severe that I decided that she needed immediate attention so I brought her here where I have some supplies and got to work on fixing her up. She was awake slightly, but not coherent of where she was at. She was begging and pleading to not let them find her and how she didn't want to go to the hospital, things like that," Carlisle explained with a little white lie.

Charlie let out a big sigh as he stood there looking down on Carrie's slumbering form. "I'll over look this part of the ordeal once. I would like to check out the clearing that you found her in. When I get back to the office I'll get an arrest warrant against her family. For now I am formally placing her under your care. I'll stop by afterwards to give you the paperwork and to update you on the situation."

After that Charlie, Bella and Jacob left, and Carlisle along with Emmett and Rosalie showed them the clearing in which we found Carrie. As promised Charlie stopped back later with the paperwork stating that Carlisle and Esme were Carrie's temporary guardians and to inform them that there was a warrant out for Thom's, Liz's, Howard's and Helen's arrest for child abandonment, child abuse, rape, sexual assault on a minor and attempted murder/manslaughter; if found guilty they were looking at possibly life in prison he told us. He stayed for a few minutes chatting with Carlisle and Esme to keep him informed then he left.

Esme was really excited about getting custody of Carrie, even if it was only temporary. She went to cook some dinner, which was still soup broth, with an extra bounce in her step. Carlisle was in a better mood with how everything went and even more so when we managed to feed Carrie a whole bowl of broth without her getting sick.

After dinner Esme, Rosalie and Alice gave Carrie a bath afterwards we took turns holding her while she was wrapped up in a blanket. During this time Esme was changing the sheets on the bed and when she was done Carrie was set on top of the sheets. Carlisle then began to flex her limbs so that there was some muscle movement and stimulation. He also checked to see how bad the damage of the frost bite is to her limbs. He was still surprised to see that it was slowly healing and improving instead of getting worse like usual; another miracle, quirk, whatever you want to call it. After that we all sat in her room and informed Carrie of what she had been missing in school, even though she was still asleep. During which Alice painted Carrie's nails and Rosalie did the toe nails. Emmett and I asked them why they did that, Alice replied that it was fun and that Carrie enjoyed it when they used her as a dress up doll for it reminded her of Halloween.

My brothers and I just left the girls alone and went off to do our own thing. I found myself sitting in front of my piano staring at the keys. I brought my hands up and began to play little odds and ends. I played a little bit of all of the songs that I have written for my family members.

I stopped what I was doing and let my head hang down to my chest. I closed my eyes and began to lose myself in my memories. Mostly I reminisced on the ones that had to do with Carrie. I brought my hands back up and let them glide across the keys on their own as I concentrated on those memories.

I thought of how she was so confusing at first then how slowly she began to bloom in front of my eyes. I recalled how at first she didn't want anything to do with us then how she finally gave in and opened up to us. I remembered how she made me feel on Halloween and on our date. I recalled how I felt when I found out about her past, when she was injured, the things she did during Thanksgiving.

The music I played was confusing, sad and slow, painful, happy, everything that I have felt toward her and what she must have felt as she grew up. When I began to feel tired, which can happen even though I do not sleep, I stopped playing.

"That was beautiful Edward," I feminine voice said. I turned to see Esme standing behind me. She came up and wrapped her arms around me like a mother would.

"I was thinking of Carrie and how she must have felt growing up, and how I felt around her since we first met. I'm still surprised at everything she has gone through and that she has survived and remained strong," I said quietly.

"You love her don't you," she asked me as she sat next to me on the bench.

"Of course, more than I even thought possible. I didn't expect to fall in love so soon after Bella. I didn't expect to fall in love again at all," I replied. I was wondering why she would bring this up.

"I thought something similar to that when I met Carlisle so to speak. But sometimes I think that there is a reason for everything. I think that Bella was brought into the picture so you could learn that you could love someone as your own, that you didn't have to be afraid. Carrie might have been sent here for us to rescue her, to free her from her prison, so you could be there for her. I call it fate that she is here with us now," she said.

I looked at her in confusion, wondering why she would have said something like that. She just turned to me and gave me a bright smile. "Come on Edward, play something with me. We haven't played anything together in a while," she said. I just nodded and turned back facing the piano and we began to play a song.

Around and hour or so later I found myself standing next to Carrie's bed side watching as she slept. I was a bit concerned that she hasn't woken up yet, but Carlisle assured me that she was fine and that she will wake up when she was ready. I tried not to think about that as I stood there.

I watched as she appeared to sleep peacefully through the curtains that lightly moved in the breeze that was moving through the room. The curtains on the window were wide open and the moonlight was shining into her room. I watched as the shadows made by her bed curtains danced across her face. Despite her injuries she still glowed in the moonlight, but not as brightly as before.

I slowly walked toward the door and closed it before I made my way back to the bed; my eyes never once moved from her face. I slowly parted the curtains so I could move on to the bed. I lay down beside Carrie for a while just watching her as she slept. I brought my hand up and gently traced the marks on her face.

I was surprised when she moved her face slightly from side to side. "Eddie," she whispered out quietly and almost sounded like painfully.

"I'm here Carrie. I'm here," I told her stroking her left cheek with my right thumb. Was she finally waking up? Was she coming out of it? She began to move slightly as if she was trying to turn toward me. I used my arm to help her move so that she was facing me and brought her close to me. I watched as she cuddled into me and I wrapped my arms around her.

When we were settled we were on our sides facing each other. Her face was buried in my chest and my arms were wrapped around her, my nose buried in the knit hat that she was still wearing on her head. I felt as she slipped back into her deep sleep, her body felt heavier. I ran my hand gently up and down her back while softly telling her that I was here for her. I closed my eyes and relaxed my mind and body to do my version of sleep.  
　

WELL THERE YOU HAVE IT. LIKE IT HATE? LOVE ME HATE ME? NEXT CHAPTER CARRIE AWAKENS, I THINK, IN WHAT CONDITION WILL SHE BE IN. STAY TUNED TO FIN OUT. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

AH SORRY THAT THIS IS A FEW DAYS LATE. I HAD TO GET READY FOR A CAMPUS VISIT, THEN THERE WAS THE CAMPUS VISIT ITSELF. AND WALKING AROUND THAT REALLY HILLY CAMPUS WHILE PUSHING MY DAD AROUND IN A WHEEL CHAIR REALLY TOOK IT OUT OF ME. IT TOOK ME A COUPLE OF DAYS JUST TO GET ENOUGH ENERGY TO GET OUT OF BED. PLUS I HAD A REALLY BAD TIME WITH MY ALLERGIES AROUND THE CAMPUS AND THE NEXT DAY IT FELT LIKE I HAD THE FLU BECAUSE OF IT, BUT I'M DOING BETTER NOW, STILL ON THE TIRED AND SORE SIDE BUT I KNOW THAT THERE ARE A FEW OF YOU THAT REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO MY UPDATE (COUGH -CHIKA AND TRIFORCE- COUGH) SO INSTEAD OF JUST WAITING UNTIL THE FIRST OF THE MONTH I'LL JUST UPDATE NOW.

OKAY TO THE THANKING PEOPLE. MY FAITHFUL REVIEWERS : **CHIKA1345**, AND **TRIFORCEANDSHEIKAHARTS**, AND A BRAND NEW REVIEWER **CIAMI.** YAY REVIEWERS THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

FAVORITERS HEHE:** CIAMI, EZZA1093, CLEO4EVER44**. ALERTS: **EZZA1093**.

AND WHOEVER GUESS THE MOVIE QUOTE (THAT I DO NOT OWN) THAT I HAVE IN HERE SOMEWHERE WILL GET THE NEXT CHAPTER DEDICATED TO THEM. GOT TO ADD SOME FUN TO THE AN'S. NO ONE HAS YET TO GUESS THE TV SHOW QUOTE FROM A FEW CHAPTERS AGO. DEFINALLY GET IT IF YOU CAN NAME BOTH QUOTES.

I HAVE YET TO REALLY GET STARTED ON THOSE PICS, I TRIED TO BUT THEN STOPPED AND EARASED EVERYTHING. I WILL GET THEM DONE SOMETIME I PROMISE.

Ch 26 Awakening

Author POV

It was the end of January and Carrie had yet to wake from her sleep. Her wounds have been healing nicely without any complications. She is still thin for all that she is eating is soup broth. Carlisle was worried about feeding her anything else while she was still in a sleep like state.

Currently the Cullen siblings were at school, it was the Friday before the weekend, Carlisle was at work and Esme was sitting in the living room reading a book. Carrie was lying on her bed and was beginning to stir. Her brow was furrowed and her head was moving side to side. Movement under the blankets suggests that she is moving her legs and soon an arm appears from out under the covers as a hand grips her head.

A groan escapes her mouth as she moves onto her side; which causes her to gasp in pain as her back protests the movement. Her whole body hurt so much, which she was not aware of as she was sleeping. She slowly moved so that she was sitting up but she was in agony. It took everything she had not to scream her agony to whoever was listening. She wasn't sure where she was and if there were people nearby, listening, or if they were friend or foe. She couldn't remember where she was or what happened. After getting her bearings she began to open her eyes to observe her surroundings.

She had trouble opening her eyes since they were so dry and gritty, not to mention still heavy from sleep. She opened her eyes completely and blinked a few times; she was confused when she couldn't see anything. There was no light, nothing but complete blackness. She brought her hands up to feel along her eyes but she was soon feeling her whole face, it didn't feel right, and why did her eyes sting and burn so bad. '_What the … heck … happened to me_,' she thought lanquidly in confusion.

She slowly and painstakingly moved so that she was sitting on the edge of her bed. She felt around for something to hold on to as she tried to stand up, only to fall to the floor. She just laid there for a while because the landing hadn't been too soft and made her hurt even worse. After a few minutes of catching her breath and trying to block out the pain she felt around and eventually grabbed hold of the bed leg.

She used this as she slowly and with much difficulty pulled herself up and after about ten minutes or so she was breathing heavily, standing on weak legs holding tightly onto the banister for support. Once she was sure of her legs would somewhat support her weight Carrie took a step forward. Her legs were so shaky and she was so dizzy that it felt as if she was going to fall again, but out of pure will she remained standing.

She had no idea of where she was at so she took small hesitant steps looking for a bathroom so maybe she could find a sink or mirror or something since she had determined that she was in a room of some sort. With her small steps she was barely moving. Since her arms only came down to her hips she didn't feel the stool that she was headed toward, until she tripped on it and fell to the floor with a loud thump.

Esme's POV (for something different)

I was just sitting in the living room reading a book. Carlisle was at work and the children were at school. I really had nothing to do. I cleaned the house yesterday so I don't have to do that. I finished the dishes earlier and I did laundry the day before. Carrie isn't due for a feeding or anything anytime soon.

A smile spreads across my face as I think of Carrie. I'm so happy that I have custody of Carrie, even if it is only temporary. I'm just one step closer to having her as my daughter and I'm so glad to have her as a member of the family.

I'm glad that Edward has her too; he really needed someone after what happened with Bella. He is not as moody and broody anymore. He even seems more carefree around her than he was around Bella, for some reason we don't seem to worry about hurting her.

She is really a kind and sweet young lady. I feel bad about what she has had to go through in her short life. Well I'm bound and determined to make sure that her life with us is so much better and that she will never have to want for anything.

The phone rings as I turn the page of my book and I also thought I heard something else but I just shake it off as my imagination. I answer the phone by the third ring.

"Hello Cullen residence, Esme speaking," I said to be polite.

_Hi Esme, its Alice_ was heard on the other end.

"Hello dear. I suppose that you are calling to check up on Carrie," I said.

_Yeah, how is she doing?  
_

"Last time I checked on her she was still sound asleep," I told her.

_Is everything ok, nothing is wrong is there_? a new voice said. Poor Edward he's been taking this worst then everyone else. He no doubt blames himself for this. It has been refreshing to see him worry over someone else who isn't a member of the family. I was worried about him after he broke up with Bella. He was just so depressed I thought that I would never see him smile again or play the piano again which he stopped playing because he always ended up playing Bella's lullaby.

"Everything is fine Edward dear. If anything was wrong I would call the school and have you sent home." I told him honestly. I'm sure he would have chained himself to Carrie if he could have just so he would have a reason for not leaving her side.

_Oh you know Edward. He is just worried about princess_ It is a wonder sometimes how she intergraded herself into our family so thoroughly. I already love her like a daughter, the same with Carlisle. The children seem to get along with her like she has always been with us.

"I know Emmett sweetie, but he is just worried." I said hoping that they were not giving him a hard time. Edward was picked on a bit when he was with Bella so naturally they pick on him now. He is also the most picked on because he is the 'youngest' and isn't 'married' yet like the rest of my children.

_We are all worried, not just Edward_. Ah Rose, she was the biggest surprise. None of us could have foreseen her friendship and bond with Carrie, especially with the way she acted during Edward's last relationship.

"I know Rosie." I told her reassuringly not wanting her to think that we thought she did not care.

_I hope she gets better soon. I miss beating her at chess_. She had even captured Jasper's friendship. And I have also noticed that since her welcoming into the family Jasper had become stronger with resisting the call of human blood. It was proved when Aro did his test when he visited.

"I'm sure she'll be up soon and you can beat her at chess all you want. Be good dears and I will see you in a few hours." I told my children.

_Bye mom_. I hung up the phone and went back to the seat I was sitting in before. I had just sat down when I heard some thumping and crashing sounds up stairs. I got up and quickly headed to Carrie's room to check on her.

I opened the door and panicked when I didn't see her in her bed. I looked around and spotted her on the floor lying next to an overturned stool that had a chess set on it that Jasper was using while he was in her room. She slowly rolled over on to her back and a pain filled moan escaped her.

"Carrie, sweetie, are you okay," I asked in concern as I went and knelt toward her.

"Where am I," she let out in a hoarse whisper.

"You're at home, in your room," I told her.

"Home," she said in confusion as if she did not know the meaning. It was so heart breaking to see her this way that I wished I could cry.

"Yes dear remember. It's me Esme; you remember Carlisle don't you," I asked, slightly worried for I wasn't sure how much she remembered.

"Esme… mom?" she said softly.

"Yes dear I'm here," I told her, a little shocked yet happy that she called me mom I only remembered her doing that once when she was running from Emmett. That seems like such a long time ago, a life time.

"What happened? Why do I hurt so much? Why can't I see," Carrie said in panic, on the verge of tears. Her voice was practically nonexistent yet over flowing with pain.

"I'll tell you later, but let's get you back into bed," I said as I picked her up and carried her over back to her bed and tucked her back in. I went into the bath room and grabbed some pain medication to give to her. I sat her up against me and gave her the medicine, and then I just held her close to give her some comfort. I rocked her gently and softly hummed under my breath to try to sooth her pain or at least distract her from it.

I could still hear her lightly whimpering and feel her quivering from the pain that she was feeling. It is as Carlisle feared, Carrie is in a lot of pain and she cannot see. The bad thing is that he is not sure if there is anything that he or anyone can do to help her. Nothing can be done about frost bite and her back muscles are shredded, they will have to heal on their own.

I was still holding her as I heard the children come into the house. I heard them calling for me so I gently laid Carrie, who had finally fell back asleep about an hour ago, back down and tucked her in before I left her room.

"Hello dears, how was school," I asked them; I could tell my face echoed my worry for Carrie.

"Fine, Where were you," Edward asked immediately picking up on my worry either from my thoughts or my voice I was unsure.

"I was up in Carrie's room." Edward was going to say something but I beat him to it "She is fine now. She woke up after you called and made some noise when she fell. She is a little confused and everything but she soon fell back asleep after I gave her some pain medication." When I finished Edward rushed up the stairs, the others followed at a more leisurely pace, but I could tell that they were eager to see her as well.

Edward's POV

I was so happy that Carrie had finally woke up, I felt relieved for she has been asleep for practically a month. I had feared that she would never wake. I was worried that she fell and that she was pain but I felt as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders Without a second thought I rushed up to Carrie's room, eager to see her.

I barged into the room and had to grab the door in order to prevent it from slamming into the wall. I took my usual position next to the bed, holding Carrie's hand that was lying on top of the blankets. I used my other hand (my right) and softly stroked her hand. Alice came in and sat on the other side of Carrie, holding the other hand. Jasper was standing behind her and Emmett and Rosalie were at the foot of the bed.

We all watched as Carrie began to stir. She opened her eyes slowly and blinked them a few times before she moved her eyes around. I could tell something was wrong. "Carrie," I said softly so as to not spook her.

Her eyes snapped toward me but I had a feeling that she couldn't see me. "Hey there sleepy head," Alice said and Carrie turned her face toward her.

"Edward… Alice," she said quietly as if she was unsure.

"Yeah, we're here. So are Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett," Alice said.

Carrie appeared as if she was looking around, a look of worry and fear spreading across her face the same with her thoughts; tears began to leak out of her eyes. "What's wrong princess," Emmett asked, he can never handle a girl crying.

"I … I can't … I can't see," she said breaking down. It was so heartbreaking to hear her cry. I gathered her into my arms to bring her to my chest. I stopped moving her when she gasped in pain.

"What's wrong," I asked in worry.

"My back … movement is painful. I hurt all over and I don't remember why," she managed to say through her gasps of pain and confusion as Alice moved to dry her tears.

"Hush, hush, It's going to be okay, we're here," Alice said comfortingly. We managed to sit her up and I moved to sit behind her. I brought her to my chest and held her tightly until her tears dried up. The others moved so that they too were sitting on the bed.

We were still sitting in Carrie's room, trying to catch her up on some of the things that happened to distract her. Carrie was beginning to doze again in my arms again when Carlisle came into the room. "Well looks like someone is finally awake," he said coming to stand next to the bed.

"Hi Carlisle," Carrie said sleepily.

"Hello Carrie. How are you feeling," he asked as he began to check over her again and see how she responded to stimuli and the like.

"Well I'm tired and I feel like crap. My whole body hurts and I fell earlier when I tried to stand up," Carrie said her voice still as scratchy from disuse as before. "What exactly happened to me anyways?"

"You don't remember anything," Carlisle asked worried that she may have amnesia of some sort or degree.

"Sort of, I kind of have a feeling about what happened but it is really fuzzy," Carrie said. "Please, I want to know because their feels as if there is a piece missing," she said after there was silence in the room after what she said previously.

We looked at each other wondering if we should really tell her what happened. Sure she has gone through some bad things in the past but how can we explain that her blood family tortured her to the verge of death, burned her eyes so now that she is blind and to top it all off, she was raped then left for dead. All of this occurred outside during the worst blizzard in twenty years. How can we tell her and what will her reaction be?

With a deep sigh Carlisle began to tell Carrie what happened starting when he received a letter from Aro. My siblings and I would talk about the parts that happened with us. We moved to where Aro told us that he knew about her and that he knew what she was going through. We told her we went out searching for her and at her house we found bloody scraps of cloth frozen to a metal collar, her den abandoned then us splitting up to search for her.

When we mentioned the collar she brought her hand up and rubbed around her still bandaged neck. We informed her on how we found her chained, bloody and unconscious in a clearing. She was told on how she was hypothermic then how she had pneumonia and how she has been asleep until now. The entire time we watched her reaction to what we told her.

"So they beat me within an inch of my life, blinded me, rape me then left me for dead," she said. "I almost died because of the cold and blood loss, then pneumonia."

"Yeah, basically," Emmett said. Rosalie smacked him in the back of the head for that. Emmett gave her a questioning look but she just glared at him

"I guess I have a lot of work to do to get caught up in school huh," Carrie said with a small smile, trying to lighten the mood. "Edward I'm sorry about the necklace, it was torn off and tossed away. I don't know where it is." Of course that is the first thing she worries about. It was the very thing she fought to reach as she was on the verge of death in Alice's vision.

"It's okay Carrie, don't worry about it," I told her rubbing her hands trying to comfort her.

"Oh okay," she said softly, dropping her head to her chest.

It was quiet until Carrie said, "Hey, Jasper?"

"Yeah," Jasper replied curious about what she had to say to him.

"My bishop to your queen side castle," she said with a small laugh. We all let out a laugh at that. Figures that even despite the condition that she is in she tries to make light of the situation like she just did. I am even more convinced now that she uses it as a distraction from her pain.

"Dinner's ready," Esme said as she came into the room with the usual tray and bowl of broth. She sat the tray on Carrie's lap and I just swatted her hand away when she felt around for the spoon. I just picked it up, filled it with soup, cooled it off, told her to open up and popped it into her mouth. Along with the soup was some crackers since Carlisle wanted to get her started on more solid foods now that she was awake. After dinner Carrie settled herself against me and went to sleep. I sat there the whole night holding her, glad to have her back.

Carrie's/ Author POV

When Carlisle told me what had happened to me everything came back. I remembered the pain, the cold, the humiliation. I remember feeling weak and helpless, unable to defend or stand up for myself. I remembered every second of it and the feeling of being filthy after being raped. I remembered the horror, the fear I felt when I realized what it was they had planned for me. This was a whole new level of Evil I knew Thom was a bastard, but I am his blood daughter. How could he violate me in such a way? Howard while not my blood brother was my blood cousin we were family, in a sense. Beating and torturing me was one thing, but to rape me it was beyond disgusting.

At the moment I was the only one in the room, I think. Though I cannot be sure since I cannot see and they are all so very quiet, but I didn't feel another presence in the room and I didn't hear anything. It was Monday so the others were at school and Carlisle was at work. They spent the whole weekend with me, apparently they had missed me. A smile spread across my face as I thought about how sweet Edward had been. Despite me being even more disfigured, blind and defiled he still wants to be with me. The entire weekend he never once let go of me; I was always in his arms, sitting in his lap and I slept next to him at night.

Even though I still felt wanted and desired I felt incredibly dirty and tainted. I slowly got out of bed, thankful that the Cullen's had worked with me to get walking again, and headed to the bathroom, feeling my way along. The Cullen's told me that they had cleared out the area so that if I ever did get up, which they told me not to without anyone else with me, I wouldn't trip over anything, but I was cautious anyways. My progress was slow since I was still really weak and my body still recovering, but I needed to get this done.

Once in the bathroom I made my way over to the tub and felt around for the knobs to turn on the hot water. Every second I was in pain and moving was torture in itself. When the shower was going I stripped down, tore the bandages off and stepped in. The hot water was really too hot but I needed to get clean. I need to scrub the feeling of their touch away from my skin. After all this time I could still feel their touch, the way that their nails dug into my flesh as they grabbed hold on me, and it was sickening. Just thinking about it made me shiver uncontrollably and want to throw up.

I just let the hot water wash over my form before I felt around for the soap and scrubber. When I had those and I felt that I had a thick lather of soap I began to scrub myself furiously. I just felt so dirty but I felt like I wasn't getting any cleaner so I began to scrub harder. I was getting dizzy so I sat down in the tub and the water fell down on me like rain. I was scrubbing so hard that my wounds that were not yet healed were reopened. I could tell because I felt the sting of the water and soap coming in contact with them.

I heard a knocking on the bathroom, but I ignored it. I was still so dirty I had to get clean.

"Carrie, sweetie, Are you okay in there? I can smell your blood," I heard Esme call through the door. I could tell she was worried about me, but I did not want her to see me like this, so dirty.

"Go away! I need to get clean, I'm filthy," I yelled the edge of hysteria creeping in my voice. I could feel the thick steam rolling around me, wrapping around me like a suffocating blanket.

I didn't hear anything as I began to scrub harder. It was during my cleansing that I found out that my hair was gone, which is probably a good thing. One less thing for me to clean and I may have cut it off anyways.

I felt something cold come in contact with the hand that I was scrubbing with. "Carrie," I heard Esme whisper next to me. I tore my hand free and continued to scrub. "Carrie, stop this. You are only hurting yourself."

"I've got to get the dirt off," I said. I felt water get cooler then cold hands grab a hold of mine. I tried to pull free but I couldn't budge. Why was she stopping me? I needed to get clean I was so dirty, so filthy. How can she even stand to look at me let alone touch me? How can any of them look or touch me?

"Stop this Carrie. You are not dirty. The only ones who are dirty are the ones who did this to you," Esme said in a commanding voice that I have never heard her use before.

I dropped the scrubber and sat there with the water falling down on me. I slowly turned toward where her voice was coming from with a slack jaw and wide disbelieving eyes. I was shaking like a leaf and I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes causing them to sting. I felt a pair of cool arms wrap around me and I lost it, I let the tears fall freely and just sobbed. Esme brought me close to her and rocked me back and forth, whispering reassurances as I came apart in her arms.

I wasn't sure how long I cried for but when I calmed down Esme pulled away and began to wash me again, but more gently than what I did. When she was done she turned off the water, draped a towel across my back and picked me out of the tub. After she gently dried me off and wrapped my body in another towel I guess she carried me into my room where she helped me dress. When I was dressed I felt something that felt like a blanket placed across my shoulders then tucked around my form.

I felt that I was again picked up and carried somewhere. It couldn't have been my bed for it was too far and it felt like she walked down some stairs. When it felt like Esme was sitting down I felt the she held me closer and started to rock me back and forth. I could hear a light humming from her and I couldn't stop the thought that she was treating me like a baby, but I was too tired to argue. This was the very first time someone acted as my mother and I let her, I needed and could use a mother now more than ever. I closed my unseeing eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Edward's POV

Today seems to be going better with the knowledge that Carrie is awake and appears will be mostly fine. My siblings and I are all in lighter spirits knowing that things are getting better. After school we are going to stop by the office to work something out for Carrie since she is blind, temporary or not, we're still not sure, so she can still graduate.

Apparently everyone knows what has happened to Carrie so everyone is wondering how she is doing. All my teachers have asked about her and I told them that she is awake but we're not sure when she is going to come back to school. Bella asked me if she could come over and see her some time; I told her that I would think about it and ask her if she wants any visitors.

After collecting the work Carrie needed for the day, even though we haven't caught her up yet, we piled into my Volvo and headed home. I was eager to get home to see how Carrie was doing. She may be awake and moving around but I still worry about her.

After pulling into the garage we all got out and headed into the living room as usual. We stopped when we saw Esme sitting in the rocking recliner with a large bundle in her arms. "Hi dears, how was your day," she asked us quietly as to not disturb the person in her lap.

"Fine Esme, but what happened? Why are you holding Carrie," Emmett asked looking over the bundled form of Carrie trying to decipher what was wrong.

"Oh she had a little breakdown earlier. She locked herself in the bathroom trying to cleanse her body. When I heard the water running I didn't think anything about it at first, until I smelled the blood." Esme paused unsure how much she should divulge and how to do it.

"I went up to check on her and she told me to go away. I entered the bathroom anyways and found her sitting in the tub with the water coming down on her, vigorously scrubbing her skin. Some of her cuts that have yet to finish healing began to bleed again, which explains the blood." The conversation between Carrie and Esme flashed through her mind and I flinched. Of course she would feel dirty after that it is a normal feeling for those who went through similar ordeals. I will never forgive myself for not being there to save her from this. I felt bad enough that I wasn't there for her in her time of need already; both in the past and the more recent.

"I turned the water down because she had it so hot I was afraid that she was going to burn herself. I finally managed to get her to stop and she broke down crying. I cleaned her up the best I can, dressed her, and I've just been sitting her holding her as she fell asleep," Esme explain to us as she looked down at Carrie while continuing her rocking.

We all looked down at Carrie as she slumbered against Esme, feeling guilt and pain for we were unable to help her while she is still suffering. I guess that everything that has happened has finally caught up with her. She must have not been able to handle it and snapped. I'm only slightly surprised that she managed to last this long.

"Here give her to me," Rosalie said as she held out her arms. "You can go get cleaned up. I can tell you got a little wet and soapy helping her." I figured that Rosalie would want to help her since she has been in roughly the same predicament as her when she first joined our family.

Esme stood up and handed Carrie to Rose before she turned and left to her room. Rosalie sat in the middle of the sofa. I sat on her left, Emmett on her right. Alice sat on the floor by her feet and Jasper was standing behind her and the sofa looking over her shoulder. We were all looking at Carrie in concern and worry. Even now we can smell the pain that was coming from her form. I could feel Jasper using his gift in trying to make her feel more comfortable.

Carrie began to stir so Rosalie sat her up a little straighter. Carrie rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and blinked as if testing if she could see. She turned her head in each of our directions. "Okay, who is all here? Just because I can't see you doesn't mean that you're not there," she said. It surprises me that even without her sight she can tell if someone is near her.

"We're all here Carrie," Rosalie said softly. The rest of us said our own greetings the same way so that she won't be startled.

"How are you doing princess," Emmett asked his voice soft.

"Fine I guess. Things don't seem as dark. I guess that that is a good sign," Carrie said. "Since I've been asleep for a month, how was Christmas? Did you guys like your presents?" she asked trying to turn the conversation to somewhere a bit more pleasant.

"We didn't open our presents yet," I said careful to keep my raging emotions out of my voice. I didn't want to scare or worry her.

"And why not," Carrie asked as she rubbed her eyes a bit more but her hands soon began to trace her scars on her face. My heart clenched slightly as I watched her do this.

"We were waiting for you silly," Alice said with a smile on her face. I could tell she was trying so hard to sound happy for Carrie and to make her a bit happier.

"Well if I had known that I would have woken up sooner. Now I feel bad that you had to wait. The tree is probably dead and thrown out," Carrie said sadly.

"No it isn't," I said as I looked at the tree wishing that she could see it. Her gasp made us turn toward her. She was sitting straight up in Rosalie's lap and her eyes were wide.

"What is it." I asked concerned at her sudden gasp. Was she in pain?

"I … I saw the tree. It was just a quick blurry flash but I saw it ," she said, her tone still surprised as she blinked furiously and squinted straight ahead, not where the tree was. It was then that I felt a small connection between us, between our minds and I realized what must of happened. I must have some how shown her what I saw, but how is that possible. Then again how is it possible that I was able to show the others what she was dreaming that one time.

"I think I might now what happened, I showed it to her," I said calmly. Again I concentrated on the connection that I felt between us and struggled to make it stronger, it felt as though something was fighting me. Again when I concentrated on the image and the connection she gasped again as she slightly tilted her head to the side in confusion as she brought one hand to lightly grip her head.

"A little more warning next time Eddie. You kind of surprised me because for a moment there I thought that I could see," Carrie said with a small pout after we all figured out that I did indeed send her the image.

"Sorry," said as I showed her the tree once more but a little more slowly.

"Wow, the tree is still alive. I figured that it would be dead by now," Carrie said in surprise. It was true, we have been taking care of the tree very carefully because we didn't want to throw it out and decorate a new one for it wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't be as special.

All the presents were placed back under the tree, practically flooding that area of the living room, and now that Carrie is awake it just seems so much happier. I was thinking of maybe opening them this weekend or next so that we can all enjoy it. Carrie asks for Rosalie to let her up so she stands up and places Carrie on her feet. After gaining her balance Carrie slowly takes off the blanket just to flip it over, it was wet on the inside, and put it back on. She is only wearing a t-shirt and shorts so she's probably a little chilled.

"Why don't you go change Carrie? You just got over one cold, we don't need you getting another chill," Emmett said, going into his over protective big brother mode. Alice got up, placed a hand in Carrie's lower back to help guide her to the stairs and to her room. I watched as Carrie had to stop every couple of steps to regain her breath and take a break to stop the shaking of her legs. About halfway up Alice just gently picked her up and carried her to the top of the stairs where they slowly continued their journey to her room.

"Is she going to be okay Rosalie," I asked knowing that if anyone could answer me it would be her.

A pained look spread across her face. She is thinking of how she was when she was raped and left for dead. "She'll be fine though she will always carry the scars whether they be physical or other wise. As Carlisle said, she is a stubborn one. Once she moves past this she'll start being her old self again," Rosalie said looking toward Carrie's room. Because of the abuse Carrie had lived with all her life and remaining strong was what started their bonding, but now that Carrie had went through something so much more similar to her, Rose was feeling a bit more kinship with Carrie. She knows all too well what Carrie is probably feeling, thinking and going through and finds her actions to be understandable.

Emmett came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, comforting her. Jasper left and went up to the stairs, probably to his room. I myself went to my piano and began to work on the song for Carrie.

I was writing down my idea for how the melody should go when I felt a pair of arms drape around my shoulders; they were slightly shaking and trembling. I took a deep breath and smelled the scent of Carrie. Currently she smelled like an old forest during a rainstorm; a clue that she was still hurting and in slight turmoil over something. I brought my hands up and grasped hers and placed small kisses on her palms.

I felt Carrie lean closer to me and placed her head against mine, her arms coming around me more. I just held onto her arms before I reached around behind me to bring her into my lap. She was sitting in my lap much the same way as she did that one night camping and again during our date. Facing me, her legs were around me, hanging off the back of the bench. Our arms were wrapped tightly around each other and her head was against my shoulder.

I noticed that she was once again wearing the set of sweats that were mine along with the blanket from before and some house socks on her feet. I didn't mind her wearing my clothes, I liked it in fact. But I just sat there comforting her, letting her know that I was there for her.

"Are you going to be alright," I asked her softly as I rubbed her back through the blanket.

She inhaled deeply, taking in my scent. With her I don't have to worry about her being drawn to me because of my charms for they have no affect on her. She loves me for me, nothing else. That also makes her a bit more special because I have never come across anyone who has been able to resist the charms of a vampire.

"I will be," she said answering my previous question. "Once I overcome the pain or learn to ignore it, I'll be closer to my old self. Besides I have you and everyone else here to help me. I'm not alone this time." She said closing her eyes as she tucked herself closer to me with her head under my chin.

"No you're not alone nor will you ever be alone again," I told her after I pulled away to place a small kiss on her lips, then holding her close to me again.

After holding her for a while I asked her, "Do you want to pick up where we left off with your lessons?" She said that she needed a distraction from the pain and I could provide one.

She pulled back and had a thoughtful look on her face. "Sure why not. I can be like Ray Charles and Ronnie Millsap, blind and play the piano," she said with a small smile on her face. I picked her up and set her on her feet. I get up and move the bench so that it was perpendicular to the piano. I gently grasped Carrie by her shoulders and led her to sit on the seat. I took a seat behind her and started a review of what I taught her before.

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW. PLEASE REVIEWS ARE MY PAYMENTS, I PRETEND EACH ONE IS LIKE AT LEAST $10 SO REVIEWS ARE MY PAYCHECKS SO PAY ME! LOL


	27. Chapter 27

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

OKAY TO THE THANKING PEOPLE. MY FAITHFUL REVIEWERS : **CHIKA1345**, AND **TRIFORCEANDSHEIKAHARTS**, AND **CIAMI.** YAY REVIEWERS THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. SPEAKING OF WHICH LOST AND FOUND HAS REVIEVED 100 REVIEWS, **SO THIS ONE IS FOR EVERYONE THAT HAS REVIEWED AND HAVE GIVEN ME SO MUCH SUPPORT TO KEEP ON WRITING**. AND LUCKY 100 IS ... **CIAMI**! I HOPE TO START POSTING SOME DRAWINGS SOON, I ONLY HAVE TWO DONE SO FAR.

I do not own Linkin Park, Three Days Grace, Green Day, or Eragon

**Chapter 27 A Late Christmas**

Carrie's POV (kind of author POV also since she is blind)

One word to describe the past week or so would have to be interesting. The Cullen's have spent a large part of their free time getting me better and back on track. I've done physical therapy with Carlisle to regain muscle tone, and learning to cope with my blindness. I am able to move around the house somewhat confidently on my own I even have a walking stick with small bells attached to help me get around.

Edward, Alice, Rosalie Emmett and Jasper have been tutoring me in the classes that I've missed. Thankfully they started new things after the break so I was only a month or so behind everyone and close to being on the same page. The only classes that changed were Chemistry to Physics and Trigonometry to Pre-Calculus.

We've been working on a system that I could use in school. I was offered to be home school but I declined. I want to be in a school atmosphere. Besides there was only a few more months of school left anyways before graduation. I wasn't about to let my blindness hold me back. As of right now we were looking at about the second to third week of February for me trying to go back to school. Carlisle and Esme were helping me in any way that they can. During down time I just mainly played chess with Jasper, with Edward's help with seeing the board to help strengthen his 'new' gift or did something around the house to keep me busy when I am not sleeping.

Edward has been working extra hard in trying to use his gift in allowing me to see. It's different from his normal power to see into minds, it is kind of like sending his mind into others in a way after a connection has been made or just having the connection act like a telephone line when it isn't that strong. He had told me that he was not always capable of this, but it had developed recently. He thinks the development is just his power maturing and has been there since the testing their limits. I also think that it is because of his will to help me that may have contributed to the change as well. So far our minds can be 'melded' together for about two minutes without break. This is a very tiring process for him and I often get a headache from it. It is a bit invasive having another conscience so close to my own.

During the day when Esme wasn't doing something with me I was listening to music. I listened mainly to Linkin Park, Three Days Grace, and Green Day, along with other similar music. Esme checked up on me when she heard the music playing so loudly from my stereo system for she was worried because it didn't seem like a type of music that I would listen to. I told her that I do listen to it and at the moment it was making me feel better. I don't know what it is about depressed music to a depressed person, or angry music to an angry person that makes everything easier to deal with even if it is only a very little bit.

It was Saturday and as promised today we were going to have our Christmas. The Cullen's were determined that I would have a normal Christmas and everything that goes with it. That included Alice coming into my room early in the morning and waking me up by jumping on my bed and yelling: "Wake up it's Christmas, it's Christmas!"

"Isn't it supposed to be the kids that jump on the parent's bed on Christmas morning," I said sleepily as I stumbled out of bed. Alice just grabbed hold of my hand and dragged me out of my room. When we came to the stairs I slipped and stumbled so Alice picked me up and carried me down the stairs to the living room.

"Merry Christmas," everyone yelled/greeted me as we entered the living room.

"Merry Christmas everyone," I said in response with a small smile on my face. I felt someone else come up beside me and grab hold of my hand and slowly I saw what everyone was doing, so I knew that it was Edward. Our connection is better when we are touching; neither of us complained about that. Everyone was wearing pajamas that looked like they had been slept in and they all had bed heads, even Rosalie, Carlisle and Esme surprisingly. Emmett was even holding a teddy bear like the drawing I made earlier. I guess they were trying really hard to make sure I get the whole package that usually comes with the holidays.

"First let's take a family photo before we get started on the presents," Esme said excitedly. I remember from before that it has been a while since they really celebrated Christmas, along with the other holidays, so everyone was excited about it, Esme especially. I felt Edward tug on my hand and I followed in the direction of the tug. I pair of hands on my shoulders stopped me and I was turned to face where I guess the camera was.

"Okay, I have it set for three seconds. Ready," Carlisle said. I put a smile on my face and waited while listening to Alice laugh quietly under her breath. I heard a slight click so I guess that the picture was taken. I was then led over to I guess the sofa by an arm wrapped around my waist and someone took a seat on both sides of me; the person on the left weighed heavier than the person on my right because the couch dipped more.

"Open mine first," Alice said coming from my right somewhere. She sounded close so she must be the one sitting next to me while the other no doubt is Edward since he never leaves my side anymore, not that I'm complaining. I held my hands out in front of me and felt a package placed upon them. I felt around and discovered that whatever it was to be large and square and a couple of inches thick. Thanks to Edward I could tell that it was wrapped in purple wrapping paper and that I was right about its shape. I dug my nails in and began to tear the paper to reveal the present.

When the paper was removed I felt the package and slowly Edward revealed to me that it was an oil paint set that came with its own collapsible easel, brushes, paint trays, mixing plate and five canvases. "Thank you Alice. Now I can try my hand at painting," I said with a smile. Edward showed me her smiling face and I gave her a hug which she happily returned.

I asked Edward if he would get one of the presents that I got for Alice. The one he grabbed was a small to medium sized package wrapped in light pink paper and had spiral ribbon designs on it. I took it from Edward and held it out in Alice's direction. I felt someone take it so I let go. I got an image of Alice's eager face and heard the paper being torn. I also saw her smile, and heard a sound of happiness as she saw my gift; I got her a headband that had a large purple rose that was off to the side. I also got her a wrap that could be worn over pants that had little pixies on it.

I received a hug and was directed to my next present which was from Emmett. I had to get up so that I could feel its size. It was huge; I could fit in it easily. I tore off the paper then was pulled back by someone, judging by the small laugh it was Carlisle since I ended up close to him while unwrapping the box. Edward showed me Emmett opening the box and pulling out a giant teddy bear that had a large green bow around its neck.

"Oh Emmett, it's so cute," I said with a huge grin on my face as I moved forward to hug him. Emmett of course picked me up and gave me one of his bear hugs, gently of course but it was still enthusiastic. When he set me down I moved over to hug my new teddy; it was so large I couldn't even get my arms around its neck and it was difficult for me to pick up.

Edward handed me one of Emmett's presents and I handed it to him. I saw the look of confusion on his face as he began to open his gift from me. By the sounds of the paper tearing he was excited yet hesitant as well. Emmett held up a leather jacket that had a deer fur lining and sent me a confused look.

"I made that myself from the fur and hides that I have managed to save," I said shyly because I was unsure of how he would like it but with some pride as well since I made it with my own hands.

"Well now I get to smell like my prey," Emmett said trying to be funny about it.

"Maybe that will allow you to sneak up on them better," I said which caused some laughs. I got another hug and sat down on the sofa.

Rosalie gave me her gift next. She gave me an outfit that consisted of black pants, top, shoes, arm warmers and charmed choker. The pants hung off the hips and flared off of from the top of the legs and had some rhinestones that made designs down the side of the legs and a couple of chains hanging on them. The top was like a tube top corset that came down to the top of the pants. The arm warmers were lace up to match the corset top. The shoes were three inch platform Demonia with an additional two inch heel that came up to my knees. The necklace was silver and black with various alchemy symbol charms hanging from it.

I gave her a hug and handed the gift that I made for her. It was a red jewel about the size of the palm of her hand that I had carved into a rose. I had been working on it for years and had finished it recently and decided to give it to her. I heard her gasp and saw the look of surprise and shock on her face as she studied the rose gem. The way that the light shined on it made it appear as if there was sparkling dew on the petals. Rosalie gave me a big hug and thanked me for her gift. (I was thinking of the rose jewel from Eragon.)

I received several more gifts throughout the day. Including an old hand carved ivory chess set from Jasper, a hand knitted sweater from Esme. From Edward I got a diamond bracelet that on the back said '_Love always, Edward'. _Carlisle gave me a bunch of fantasy books. Of course I would have trouble reading them now, but it is the thought that counts. It also wasn't in the game plan for me to lose my sight either.

I gave Jasper a jacket that looked like a bomber jacket from World War II that had a bunch of patches on it that had to do with the army and the Civil War. For Carlisle I gave him a book of 'herbal/ new age' medicine and a large bundle of dry herbs that he could use as medicine if he had patients who wanted more old fashioned remedies along with some new anatomy books (He didn't need the books but they are all so hard to shop for). I gave Esme silver pewter like cross necklace that was decorated with aquamarine stones that I have had for as long as I could remember.

Flashback

I remembered when I found that necklace long ago; I was around three or four. The rest of my 'family' and I had just moved into a small apartment. Thom and the others were out at the moment, but before they left I was locked in a closet. After a while I got bored so I started messing with the handle. The knob and lock was in such bad shape that it became unlocked and I was able to get out. With nothing better to do I began to look around the small apartment.

I eventually came across some boxes that had stuff in them that didn't look all that important. There were markings on the box but I didn't know how to read. Me being the curious little kid that I was I started looking through the boxes. I came across a lot of pretty things that I took the time to look at as the sun's rays danced off of them.

After looking through the boxes I was about to leave when a glimmer caught my eye. I looked in the box and saw the necklace there in the bottom of the box. I was wondering why it was in there for it wasn't like the other things. I was just going to leave it but I felt as though it was calling out to me. So I reached down and grabbed it. I felt a warmth spread through me as my fingers came in contact with it. I picked it up and brought it closer to my face so that I could look at it better. It wasn't really shinny like the other things but it was pretty in its own way. I just sat there looking at it as I sat on the dirty floor.

I was about to put it back but I couldn't take my eyes off it. I still felt like that it was calling me. So I figured that I might as well keep it because I thought that Thom didn't like it since it was in a box with the other stuff; besides with all of the other stuff they would never know that it was missing. I slipped it over my head and tucked it under my shirt after looking at it one last time.

I was putting the other stuff back in the box when I heard a sound coming from the front door. I turned toward it just as the door opened to reveal Thom and the others. Thom looked furious as he saw me and he came stomping toward me. That was the first time that I ever received a beating.

End flashback

Since that day I have always had the necklace. I stopped wearing it though when I started getting afraid that Thom or someone would notice it so I kept it in a bag that I had at that time. It would be safe in there since no one touched any of my stuff since it, like me, was seen as trash.

It felt right to give it to Esme so I had no problems about giving it to her. The necklace means much to me and she does as well since she has been acting like my mother. I pull myself from my thoughts and concentrated on the gift giving again.

Edward was the hardest person to find something for. I know he likes music but he already has like everything and clothes didn't seem like a good thing to get him. Alice suggested a recording of me singing songs. Rosalie suggested a locket that had my picture in it that had a personal message written inside or on the back. I picked something that was special and had meaning.

My gift to Edward was a framed drawing done with colored pencils of where we went on our first date. I drew the scene from a vantage point of standing on the cliff. I included the ocean, the cove, and the other cliffs. Right in front on the bottom was a red checkered blanket with a picnic basket and two dark silhouettes leaning against each other, looking out at the sunset. It was the happiest moment of my life and I wanted him to have a reminder of it also.

Edward was…quite pleased with his gift. After looking at the painting he pulled me into his lap and gave me a long, slow passionate kiss. I easily lost myself until I heard Alice and a couple others, giggling and some one, Emmett probably, making a gagging sound which made me pull away. I completely forgot that we were in front of his entire family. I gave him one last kiss before I pulled away completely with a warm blush adorning my cheeks and sat down next to him, held close to his side.

More gifts were exchanged, most of which were for me. All in all I had a very nice first Christmas; it was everything and more than I have heard it to be. The rest of the day, when I wasn't taking a nap, we played board games, which we did in pairs since there were eight of us. Alice challenged me to a round of twister which Rosalie, Emmett and Edward joined in. Esme, Carlisle and Jasper just watched and refereed. Esme helped me place my limbs on the appropriate circles; I just had to keep my balance. We even hooked up DDR and played. Someone would call out what was coming up for me: front, back, left, and right, sides, split. It was really tiring me out doing all this but I still didn't want to be seen as weak, I tried to continue as if nothing was wrong. But I was thankful to Carlisle who limited my activities in the games to one round, or song/dance so as to not strain myself too much. After which I took a nap to regain some energy.

That night Esme was kind of disappointed that she couldn't make a proper Christmas dinner feast because Carlisle didn't want me to eat anything too heavy yet, but she still made something that was really delicious. Carlisle said that she could make the dinner that she wanted in a couple of weeks for I could have regular food by then. Edward stayed with me that night again, he has never left my side except to go to school, and he made sure to thank me again for the gift that a made for him. I guess he liked the picture if the way my toes curled were anything to go by.

The rest of the weekend was also pretty much fun and games. Sunday night Esme, Rosalie, Alice and I locked ourselves in part of the house away from the boys and had a bit of a sleep over like thing. I couldn't do much since I couldn't see and had to take breaks and naps often since I was still tired and recovering, but we still had some fun. Alice told me that Esme was wearing the cross that I gave her and it made me feel happy that she liked my gift and wasn't wearing it to be nice. She could have easily not worn it for I would have never known the difference.

All too soon it was Monday and I was left alone with Esme. While it has been just the two of us she helped me with learning brail; Carlisle had gotten me a book on learning brail as a last minute Christmas present. I was having a little bit of trouble because all of the dots felt the same and it wasn't quite how I thought that it would be. Esme assured me that I would get better with time and my fingers will become sensitive enough to be able to tell the difference.

Today I got a bit of a special treat; Esme took me to town with her to go shopping for groceries. After my lesson Esme took me to my room to get dressed. When I asked why she told me, "I think you need to get out of the house for a little while. You've been cooped up in here for a month; you could use some fresh air. I'm going to take you shopping with me." I allowed her to dress me up, and bundle me up. I grabbed my walking stick and she led me to her car.

I have never been in Esme's car but I could tell that it was a nice one. I knew that it was a Volvo like Edward's but was black in color like Carlisle's. On the drive to town Esme was describing to me the things that she saw. Esme said how sorry she was that I didn't see the towns Christmas decorations because they are usually quite nice. She also said that she was sad that I missed the New Years fireworks. She promised that she would take me to the Fourth of July fireworks and Edward could use his newly developed skills to allow me to see them.

When we came to a stop at the store I got out and shut my door. Esme came around and looped her arm with mine so that she could lead me and I wouldn't get lost, I used my staff to check my footing. When we got inside the store Esme placed my hand on the cart that she was pushing and told me to not let go of it so we could stay together.

We walked slowly through the aisles, Esme occasionally asking me if anything sounded interesting or if there was anything that I wanted. I noticed that it got quieter to the areas that we were approaching and things got a little louder from the areas that we left. They must be talking about us or at least me. I'm guessing that everyone that knows by now what happened to me, no matter how well we tried to keep it a secret.

We came to a stop and Esme told me to stay where I was while she went to wait in line for the deli to get some lunch meat. So I was just standing there listing as Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata* played over the sound system, humming along with the melody, when I felt someone roughly grab my arm and pull me away from the cart.

"Hey let me go," I began, just to be cut off by a voice that I knew so well.

"Just what do you think you're doing here ya brat," Thom said as he grabbed hold of my jacket and pulled me toward him.

"Why aren't you in school? Better yet where is our money from work," Liz said, practically screeching in my ear while my arm was twisted behind my back and my staff was taken from me.

"Let go," I told them, trying to get free.

"I don't think so. You need to give us some answers and you need to be punished," Thom said. I felt something clench along my scalp as if trying to get a grip on my hair, but my hair was so short all they got was the knit cap and sweater hood. I felt a tug where the hand was clench like it was trying to pull my head back as well but all that was accomplished was the removal of the hat and hood.

"Look at her clothes," Liz whined as I felt more tugging on said items, "that's probably where all of our money is going to."

"Esme," I shouted out when I couldn't escape just to feel a slap against my face, knocking off my sunglasses that I wore so no one would stare at my eyes.

"What's going on here," I heard an unknown male voice said somewhat shakily but trying to be confident and demanding.

"Nothing sir; this child with us is just misbehaving and we are only trying to get her attitude readjusted," Thom said with yet another tug on my form that caused me to somewhat trip on one of their feet, but the grip kept me from falling. He only referred to me as her in public to keep up appearances that we are a 'normal family'.

"There are better ways than that," the unknown guy began just to be cut off by Thom.

"We know how to deal with it," he said shortly as he turned from the voice causing me to do so as well.

"Would you mind releasing my daughter," I heard Esme call out.

"You're daughter," Liz snapped at her as she sharply turned in that direction, finally releasing my arm from her grip.

"Yes my daughter. She has been a part of my family for the past few months. I have been taking care of her as my own. Besides I have papers stating that she is in my custody. So I repeat, release my daughter," Esme told them in a deadly tone.

"That's not true; none of us have ever seen you before. It is ours," Thom said. I could tell that he was trying to keep his anger in check so as to not start shouting and drawing attention to us. An impossible feat in a small town such as this.

"You refer to her as it," Esme questioned in disbelief. I could feel the stares of a lot of people; they must be watching what is happening.

"What else is there to call it by," Liz questioned like Esme was stupid or something.

"How about _her_ name," I heard another unidentified, but slightly familiar, male voice speak up from behind us.

"Ah Chief Swan, how nice it is to see you," Esme said in a more civil tone then what she was using previously.

"Mrs. Cullen," he said in greeting. "Do you know these people that Carrie is with?"

"Unfortunately I do Chief Swan and I would like to get her away from them. These are two of the people that you are looking for. They are the reason for this whole mess that you dragged into," Esme said calmly.

"Is that so," he said with a small sigh that I could just barely pick up in his tone. "Well, you two are under arrest for child abuse, child abandonment, child endangerment, rape, sexual harassment, forced sexual assault of a minor, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder. There are also the charges that I dug up on you two as well. There is fraud, extortion, harassment, trespassing, damage to public and private property and robbery. That is just the first page and not including the multiple counts. So release the girl, you're under arrest."

"Well you ought to arrest her for kidnapping. It belongs to us," Thom said again with a hint of panic as he tried to get himself out of this situation. I felt myself being knocked to the ground.

"Say my name," I said softly after I managed to move into a sitting position. My face was down turned toward the floor. I could feel something, anger, start to build with in me, the sounds that I could hear and things that I could smell seemed to get slightly sharper as I clenched my hands tightly on the floor.

"What's that ya brat," Thom shouted.

"I said: say my name," I told him slowly, barely controlling my anger, through clenched teeth. Short parts of my life flashed before my eyes as the tension with in my body continued to build. I felt like that I could snap at any moment.

"It's ah, ah, ah….Katie… Katie Marie Grant," Thom and Liz said in slight confusion and panic(different parts - Thom/Katie, Liz/ Marie).

"My name," I said while slowly standing back up, glaring in the direction that their voices were coming from, "is Carrie and Esme Cullen is my mother." I stated this with as much venom and malice toward them as I could but with pride when I called Esme my mother.

"Come on your under arrest," I heard someone else say.

"How dare you brat. After everything we did for you, this is how you repay us," Thom shouted.

"After everything you've done for me," I question incredulously, the tension in my body finally snapping. "The only thing that you did for me was make my life a living hell. Because of you I'm blind. Because of you I am in constant pain and each movement I make and every time I take a breath it feels like I'm being stabbed with a thousand knives. Because of you my skin constantly feels like it is on fire. It is because of you that I'm so scared and disfigured. It is because of you that you had me wishing for death at times so I wouldn't have to endure another day of what you do to me." I finished with a hysteric shout and slight pants as I tried to catch my breath. I felt so close to tears and my whole form was trembling, but it finally felt good to get some of this off of my chest.

"It's not like we did anything to you that you didn't deserve you little bitch," Liz shouted at me.

"That's enough of that," Charlie said as he subdued, handcuffed and dragged Thomas out of the store and the other cop dragged Liz out. I heard some sounds of struggling as they were dragged away, with Thomas still yelling and Liz shrieking. I collapsed to the ground on my knees in physical, mental and emotional exhaustion and after a couple of moments I began to feel around for my staff. I felt something touch my arm and someone softly say, "Here you go." I touched what was against my arm and felt my staff.

I said small thank you as I grabbed a hold of it and slowly stood up on slightly shaky legs. I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders and I could tell that from the coolness of it and the scent that I could pick up that it was Esme. "Are you okay," she asked gently. I felt the sunglasses be once again placed over my eyes.

"I'll be fine. I'll be better when we get back home," I said quietly.

"Then let's go check out and we can leave," Esme said as she guided me back to the cart. I once again grabbed hold of it, but with her hand on top of mine, as we went to the check out. When we went to leave Esme looped her arm with mine again, leading me out while one of the employees carried our bags out and put them in the trunk.

The drive home was a silent one, we didn't say anything and the radio wasn't on. When we got home Esme led me to the kitchen and helped me take off my coat. I took a seat in the kitchen while she carried in the bags. I heard her put a kettle over then start to put the groceries away.

I listened as she moved around putting things away as I sat quietly on a bar stool, head down and hands on my lap. The kettle began to whistle letting us know that the water was hot. I heard Esme make something up and place it in front of me. I could smell the cocoa; she sure does know me by now. Hot chocolate is one of the things that always calms me down and soothes my nerves. I felt along the table searching for the heat, and when I did I brought the cup toward me and held it in my hands, finding some comfort in its warmth.

We sat there in silence as I sipped my drink. I knew that Esme wouldn't say anything; she would wait for me to make the first move, which I did. "I would feel so much better if could have punched them," I said quietly.

"Would you really," she asked in a quiet tone as well.

"Not really," I said with a sigh while running my fingers over my short hair which I am slowly getting used to. "I'm not a type of person to wish harm to another. I just want some form of payback, some retribution for everything that I have gone through, but I know that there is a reason for my pain, for my blindness. And as I have always said, what doesn't kill you just makes you stronger."

"You have nothing to worry about; by the sound of it they will be going away for a very long time. Besides the others and I will be there for you. You're family now and family looks after each other," she said trying to comfort me, to let me know that I am not alone.

"Thanks Esme," I said with a small smile. I finished my drink and got up. "I think I'll go take a nice, hot, relaxing bath," I said as I left the kitchen.

"Oh Carrie,' Esme called out as I reached the threshold. I turned toward her to let he know that I was listening. "If you want … you can call me mom, if you want to," she said uncertainly.

I sent a smile her way and said, "I think I'd like that…mom." I turned away and headed to my room with a smile on my face. _'Mom, I have someone to call mom, I have a mom now.'  
_

I made my way to the bathroom and turned on the water. While waiting for the water temp to adjust I poured in some bubble bath. I didn't have to worry about my stereo or anything because as a present from the family I got a little voice activated music player. I just had to turn it on and tell it what artist I wanted to listen to. I turned the water off when the water was at an appropriate level, stripped and submerged myself in the comforting heat. I had the player play some Mozart. I leaned back, closed my eyes and let my mind wander.

The bath did help me relax and helped me to calm down from earlier. That combined with the hot chocolate made me very sleepy. So I decided to get out and take a nap, I had nothing better to do. I got out of the tub and felt around for a towel and dried off. I felt through my room for something to sleep in. I changed, crawled onto the bed without bothering to get under the blankets and went to sleep.

Edward's POV

It was finally the day that everyone was looking forward to, Christmas. Everyone is so excited about it because it has been so long since we have actually celebrated it. This was also going to be special because Carrie would be celebrating with us as a member of the family.

We are a bit down that a lot of our gifts won't have the expected result that we planned due to her blindness but we are going through with it anyways. With the gifts that she gave us I was once again shocked at the things that she is able to do. She made Emmett's coat and carved Rosalie's gem. I remember that she had trouble with the gifts but I told her that anything that she gave them would be fine, that they would love it anyways.

The gift giving was a little better than expected due to my new ability with my gift. I am able to do what Emmett jokingly refers to as a 'Vulcan mind meld'. With this new ability I am able to show Carrie what I see through a connection between our minds. This melding of our minds has unexpected consequences though. I often feel drained when we are connected for long periods of time and Carrie gets headaches. There is one side effect that I have only told Carlisle about. I can feel the pain that Carrie is feeling when we are connected; especially the longer we are together. I can feel the pain that every movement causes, the burning of the skin, the stabbing pain just to breath. I'm surprised that she can act like there is nothing wrong and able to go about like she usually will.

My gift to her was a diamond accent bracelet that had _'Love Always, Edward' _inscribed on the back of it. From my connection with Carrie as I showed her what is was I could tell that she loved it. Carrie turned to me and slowly brought her hands up to my face. I grabbed them and placed them against my cheeks. She leaned forward and drew me toward her. I moved so that she can place a kiss on my lips.

After the kiss I placed the bracelet on her right wrist before we continued the gift exchanges. I got the bracelet to go with the necklace that I gave her earlier on our date. Thinking of this reminded me that I had to pick up the necklace from the jewelers sometime. I'm thinking of giving it back to her on Valentine's Day since I had a small change made to it.

The rest of the weekend went off without a hitch and soon I found myself reluctantly going back to school. I did have something to look forward though. Carrie was going to be coming back to school soon. The original idea was for her to be home schooled but Carrie wanted to finish her senior year going to school.

The teachers asked me how Carrie was doing. I told them that she was fine and that she would be coming back to school soon. Bella asked me how Carrie was doing and I told her the same thing that I told the teachers. She told me that so far Charlie has had no luck finding the ones responsible for Carrie's condition but he was still working on it.

It was after school now and my siblings and I were all heading out. I had my own car today and Rosalie had one of hers that isn't a convertible. I was going to stop at the jewelers before I went home, that's why I drove myself. I got in and was slightly surprised when Alice hopped in the passenger seat. I gave her a questioning look but she just smiled at me and said that she wanted to tag along. I tried to listen in on what she was thinking but all I got were ideas for this years prom theme.

After about an hour's drive due to the speed I drove we finally arrived at the jewelers at another near by town. Alice and I got out and entered the store. Immediately Alice and I parted company when we entered the store and she roamed alone while I went over to the counter. I told the guy that I was there to pick up the necklace that I dropped off earlier. He left and came back a short time later with a small package I took it from him to inspect the necklace. Everything was satisfactory so I paid the gentleman and went to find Alice.

When I found her she was looking in a display case. "What did you find Alice," I asked her curious at what had her full attention.

"Oh nothing, just something that might look good on Carrie," she said. My interest was piqued so I came up beside her to look at what she was looking at. She was right; it would look good on Carrie.

During the drive home Alice had a huge smile on her face while I had a blank look on mine. I had a lot on my mind at the moment and Alice told me that she is going call a family meeting later tonight.

A light snow was falling as we entered Forks and continued to fall as we arrived home. I was slightly surprised to see both a police cruiser and a red truck parked in front of the house.

'_I wonder what they are doing here_,' I thought. I parked the car in the garage and Alice and I headed into the house. We headed to the living room where most of the scents were coming from. In there was the rest of the family, minus Carrie, along with Charlie, Bella and Jacob. There was also another older gentleman that I didn't recognize.

"Ah there you are Alice, Edward. Where were you two? I was expecting you hours ago," Carlisle said perfectly playing his part of concerned father.

"I had an errand to run and Alice decided to come with me," I said as I held up the little jewelers' bag. Bella's eyes were on the bag and I could tell that she was curious about what was in it. I can already see the wheels churning in her mind. I had also noticed that she was not staring at the bag disdainfully as she would have done only a short time ago.

"I think that I should explain why we are here," Charlie said after Alice and I took off our jackets and took a seat. "As you may or may not know earlier today Carrie and Esme were confronted by a Thomas and Elizabeth Grant." He went into details of what he witnessed as he arrived. The others and I were absolutely shocked and outraged at what had happened. I was even more so when I saw flashes of what occurred from Esme and even more brief glimpses of what Charlie had seen.

"When we went with a search warrant to their place of residence we found and arrested a Helen Grant. We found no sign of a Howard Grant on the premises," Charlie said. Which is fine, I would much rather find the fiend myself. Just the idea of my brand of justice had the monster in me grinning with glee. He better not be in Forks when I find him!

The other gentleman whom we learned to be Judge Hawkings continued from there. "We did some research and discovered that any and all remaining living family of hers has mysteriously died within the past five years or so. Since you and your wife have temporary custody of Carrie we are wondering if you would be willing to actually adopt her into your family." This made me happy, the idea of getting to keep her.

"You are already on good terms with her and she gets along with your family. We know that we are asking a lot of you considering that you already have five kids, but we figured that we would give you the option since you are experienced with this sort of thing." The judge finished, uncertainty in his tone and thoughts, looking to Esme and Carlisle for an answer.

"We would love to. My wife, family and I have been discussing it and we would love for her to join our family. We figured that she would join it one way or another," Carlisle said immediately looking to me. Esme of course certainly looked excited as she looked back and forth between Carlise, the rest of the family and Charlie and the others. Emmett, Jasper and Alice looked happy, even Rosalie though there was some concern in her features and thoughts though the happiness was slightly more prevalent.

"Let's ask the girl what she wants," Judge Hawkings said still trying to sound questionable even though a small relieved smile was evident in his features.

"Edward, why don't you go get Carrie; she is in her room taking a nap," Esme said looking toward me. I nodded and left up the stairs to go to her room. I knocked on the door and didn't get an answer so I opened the door.

Carrie was lying on her stomach in the middle of the bed, her face turned toward the open windows. I walked over to bed and half lay down next to her. I placed my hand on her back and rubbed slightly. "Carrie," I said softly so as to not startle her, but loud enough to possibly wake her. I didn't get a response so I tried again, a little louder and a little harder rub.

"What-," Carrie said sleepily lifting her head slightly in the direction of my voice.

"We have some visitors who would like to speak with you," I told her softly.

"Oh okay. Just let me get straightened out first," she said as she felt her way out of bed, found her walking staff and headed to the bathroom. There Carrie cleaned her face and brushed out her hair which she didn't have to do since it was still really short. "Do you think I should change?"

"You look fine," I told her. I came up beside her, gave her a comforting hug and a kiss to the forehead before I wrapped my right arm around her and held her left hand in mine. She was holding her staff in her right hand. I walked with her, guiding her out of the room and we carefully descended the stairs. I whispered to her softly to step down with each upcoming step. I led her over to the sofa to sit next to Jasper and I sat on the other side of her.

"Carrie we have some visitors. Among them are Bella and her fiancé Jacob Black along with them is Bella's father Chief Swan and Judge Hawkings is here as well. There is some business that they would like to discuss with you," Carlisle informed her.

"Carrie," Charlie began but didn't continue until she was facing his direction, "after the arrest of your father and step- mother we executed a search warrant for their premises. There we found and arrested your step sister Helen Grant, but your step brother wasn't there."

"Normally in these types of situations you would be handed to the state and put into foster care since we have determined that you have no other living family," Judge Hawkings said gently. "However we have an offer we would like to run past you. Instead of going to foster care we have asked Dr. and Mrs. Cullen if they would like to adopt you. They said that they would be pleased but I wanted to ask you what you thought of the situation."

"Well I don't think that the foster care would last long since I turn eighteen within the next month and I'll be kicked out. I wouldn't mind if the Cullen's adopt me, as they said before, I'm practically a member of the family anyways. If they want me to stay I'll stay, it's not like I have anywhere else to go or the money to do so," Carrie said nonchalantly.

"Well then, I guess all that there is left to do is to sign the paper work," Hawkings said as he brought out a file out of his suitcase. After shuffling through them for a few moments he separated a few from the stack and brought out a pen.

"Alright, The city of Forks in the state of Washington on February 4, 2008; Judge Hawkings presiding," Charlie said importantly as the acting bailiff.

"The adoption of Carrie Grant by Dr. Carlisle Cullen and Mrs. Esme Cullen is granted and approved by myself," Judge Hawkings said. "Other family members include Emmett Cullen, Alice Cullen, Edward Cullen, Jasper Hale and Rosalie Hale. Witnesses of this proceeding include Chief Charlie Swan, his daughter Isabella Marie Swan, her fiancé Jacob Black and myself." Hawkings said this as he filled out the appropriate pages with the proper information. "I will allow one more thing since this is such a special and unusual case; Carrie would you like your last name to be Cullen or Hale?"

Carrie closed her eyes and lowered her head as she thought about the question presented to her. After a couple minutes of deliberation Carrie raised her head and answered, "Hale." Rosalie let out a small, excited sound and came over to hug Carrie, squeezing herself in between Carrie and myself, taking my seat next to her, Jasper grabbed and held Carrie's right hand.

"Well all that is left to do is for everyone to sign the paper work," Hawkings stated. He passed out the paperwork to Carlisle and everyone in the family signed it. Carrie signed it next, her old name then her new one. I held onto her hand so that she would write in a straight line and move her hand the appropriate amount. Bella, Jacob then Charlie signed as witnesses. The judge was last to sign and he stamped it with his seal.

"Congratulations Dr. and Mrs. Cullen on the new member of your family; Welcome to your new family Carrie," was the last thing Hawking said before he shook Carlisle's and Esme's hand and left with Charlie, Bella and Jacob.

Immediately after they were gone, Esme, Alice, Rosalie and Emmett gathered Carrie up in a group hug with huge grins on their faces. "Well Esme dear, it looks like you got the other daughter that you've always wanted." Carlisle said with a warm smile.

"Yes it does," Esme said as they all pulled away. "I'm wondering though, why did you take the last name Hale?" I was curious about that too. I would have thought she would want to take the surname Cullen. I didn't get any thoughts from her about it so I didn't know what she was thinking.

"Well I got to thinking, in our group at school. There are three couples and two of them have a Hale, Jasper and Rosalie with Alice and Emmett. Well that just leaves Edward and me; since his name is already Cullen I went with Hale to make it even," Carrie said with a grin.

8,536 - words

*did have it as Bach's Little Fugue Organ, but as I was playing it my mom thought that it was too creepy, especially for a store, so I searched for something else that kind of fit into the tone of that scene.


	28. Chapter 28

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

ALRIGHT HERE WE GO. ITS ME AGAIN. HI YA'LL. OKAY SO I HAD A LITTLE REQUEST FOR HAVE SOMETHING FOR VALENTINES DAY IN THIS FIC. WELL YOU ASKED AND NOW YOU SHALL RECIEVE. SORRY IF IT DOESN'T FIT IN TOO WELL AND ALL THE TIMELINES DOESN'T REALLY SEEM TO FLOW WELL OR THINGS SEEM TO HAPPEN KIND OF QUICKLY. I INSERTED THE REQUEST IN TO THE STORY. UMM NOT MUCH TO SAY TODAY. THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING FOR REVIEWING: **CIAMI, CHIKA1345, TRIFORCEANDSHEIKAHARTS, AND OCEANICEAGLE**

**PLEASE TELL ME IF ANYTHING IS WRONG HAVING SUCH A HARD TIME POSTING THIS THINGS KEEP ON GETTING CUT OUT ITS ALL SCRAMBLED EVEN AFTER I SAVE AFTER I TYPE IT IN.**

**Chapter 28 Back To School and Valentine's Day**

Carrie's POV/ Author POV

The rest of the week went by the much the same as it always had. The only difference is that I was a legal member of the family. Alice and Esme spent a lot of time with me and whenever they said my name they included my new last name as well. It was strange finally having a last name after so long of not having and using one. It had a nice ring to it though.

"So, Carrie Hale, are you looking forward to your first day back at school," Alice asked me as we left in Edward's Volvo. Alice's bell like voice and huge smile was pulling one of equal size from me. I couldn't see the smile, but I could feel it. Alice practically exuded happiness.

"I guess I just have to get use to doing everything again. It's going to be difficult because I'm not sure how the teachers are going to deal with a blind student, even if it is only for a few months," I said nervously. After everything I've gone through the last thing I needed was to be treated like a freak or getting special treatment because of my blindness.

"Don't worry, there is going to be one of us in all of your classes except English to help you out. We have already discussed it with the teachers. We tried to get one of us transferred into your class but it was denied seeing how late in the year it is. We will just keep doing what we have been doing at home when we tried to get you caught up," Alice said reassuringly. Or at least she was trying to reassure me, but I was still all nerves.

We pulled into the parking lot then and Edward parked in his usual place. "You ready for this," he asked me before he opens the car door.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I said with a sigh. I opened the door and stepped out carefully. I could hear what chatter there was come to a stop. I closed my door with another sigh. I adjusted my bag on my back and tightened my grip on my staff. I felt someone place their hand on my arm by the elbow to lead me to the school.

I must be getting weak because my back and shoulders are already killing me due to the weight of my book bag. We stop by my locker and I take my book bag off. I take out what books I don't need, I can tell the difference due to the size, texture taped on the spine (velvet, silk, sand paper, plastic…) and the small brail we managed to print on the side of the cover.

The same person, most likely Edward do to the scent I can pick up and the way he gently held my arm, leads me to English class. While we walk along I try to remember how many steps until I turn and stuff. I'm not quite good at that yet; someone is always going to be leading me anyways until a sunny day comes along. On second thought since they use a family camping trip as an excuse it would look suspicious if I was the only one at school so I would probably be staying at home as well.

When we reach class the teacher greets me and asks how I am doing. She explains that starting today the class will be going over literary terms. She has a printed version that she is going to give to me for later use and make a brail copy, but during class she wants me to type out what she says on the computer. That way I am at least doing something in class.

After Edward takes out anything that I might need and I know where they are he leaves after placing a small kiss on my temple. I can hear the other students coming in now since the bell has rung. Again the talking stops when they see that I am in the room and the whispering begins.

I hear footsteps approaching then I heard a girl, Angela, say, "Hi Carrie. How are you doing? Is everything okay?" What a dumb question, but I really couldn't find myself to get angry with her. From what I've heard she is a nice person, so I can forgive her this once.

"I'm fine, I wouldn't be here if I wasn't," I said trying not to sound rude.

"Is it true," I heard Mike ask. What is it with these people? My god they are so nosy.

"Is what true? I'm not sure how much the rumors have distorted the truth," I said this time allowing my voice to sound a bit harsh. Did they even take the time to think that I don't want to talk about it?

"That you're blind, that your parents and siblings did a bunch of horrible stuff to you, that you almost died," Jessica said rehashing all the gossip that she no doubt help spread. With how involved she is in with gossip, maybe she should think of a career in reporting or journalism.

"Yes I am blind. Why do you think I am wearing sunglasses and have a walking stick for? Yes my parents and siblings did this to me, and yes I almost died; twice. The first time to hypothermia and the second time to pneumonia," I said confirming their suspicions.

"You really are blind," Eric said and I began to get a bit aggravated at having to repeat myself. I let out a sigh and reached up to my sun glasses. I made sure that my eyes and face were pointed to where his voice was coming from as I slide the glasses down my nose. I heard a gasp.

"What happened," Tyler said concerned yet he seemed to be fascinated as well. Weird.

"Well," I said as I replaced the glasses, "in a way I guess you can say that they were burned and some slight infection set in permanently damaging the lenses, cornea and retina. Not to mention bleach was poured into them repeatedly."

"How about you being adopted by Dr. and Mrs. Cullen," Angela asked sounding curious and was that a bit of longing I detected.

"Yes that is true. My name is now Carrie Hale," I said my tone lightening at this happy news.

"You are so lucky," Angela said, with a wistful sigh.

The rest of the class went by decently. As she said the teacher was going over the literary terms and for my benefit she read the definitions and spelling out in class instead of having the students look them up. I had a little trouble since I have never been all that great of a typist and I'm really slow about it. I was a bit more hindered now that I couldn't even check the position of my fingers if needed.

At the end of class I packed my bag with some help from the teacher who helped me out into the hallway to Emmett who led me to Latin. In Latin Ms. Simon asked how I was doing and said how I got what every girl in the school probably wished for, to be a permanent part of the Cullen crew. In that class we began to read Dante's Inferno, the epic tale of traveling through the various levels of hell, out loud in class. I tried to take notes to the best of my ability, but the teacher had us discuss it in class so I knew what was happening.

Emmett packed up my things and even carried my bag so he had his hand in the middle of my back to guide me. We came to Rosalie and he handed me and my stuff to her and we headed to our science class. In physics we were doing one of several force labs.

Today's lab was about the force needed to push an object to move it and the force required to keep the object moving at a steady speed. Rosalie and I had to partner up with another pair; while they took turns using the computer and Rose did the calculations I pushed the 'cart' along the track for the trial runs. I wrote down the numbers, but Rosalie most likely fixed them while making sure that it looked like my hand writing.

After class I placed my bag on my back and Rose was pushing me in the direction of the door with her hands on my shoulders. She happened to push me right into what felt like a wall, but the wall had a physique that I recognized as belonging to Edward. I shook my staff in the direction that I knew that she was going, causing the bells to jingle.

I heard Edward laugh as he placed his arm around me as we walked to biology class. It was kind of weird that my boyfriend and now I guess brother was walking me to class. I was alright with it since we weren't actually related and I was use to this sort of thing from hanging out with them, but there is still that 'new weirdness' to it. It makes me happy that I chose a different last name. The only way I will have Cullen as a last name would be if we… moving on. I shook myself from my embarrassing thoughts. I am way too young and it's way too soon to think about that even if it left me with a weird sort of pleasurable tingle in my heart.

When we walked into the classroom I was immediately embraced by someone. Judging by the smell and body type it was a female. "Oh Carrie, it is so good to see you back. Edward has been so moody while you were gone," Bella said with a chuckle.

"Is that so," I said kind of like a question.

"Yeah and now that you are back you can help me with the wedding plans, the wedding shower, the baby shower," she said with excitement as she started listing off all the parties she has to plan.

"Why do you want my help with that," I asked confused. I know we had somewhat become friends when I had that small separation from the Cullen's, but I did not think we were at that phase yet.

"Because I want you to be my maid of honor at my wedding," she said with pride.

"Ah Bella, did you forgot that I'm a member of the Cullen family now and there by definition of the treaty, an enemy of yours or should I say Jake's," I asked as if she was crazy. Vampire or not I am a member of their family and must adhere by the same rules as the rest of them.

"Oh but Jake likes you. He says that it smells like you have a small bit if _his_ blood in you," Bella informed me in a low tone.

I was confused. What did she mean by 'his' blood? I'm pretty sure that none of my family came from these parts of the country. That much I am sure of. So that means I can't be related to him.

'_She means shape shifter blood_, _possibly werewolf_,' I heard Edward say in my mind something that we discovered he could do sometimes when our minds are connected. Edward said that the exchanging of thoughts wasn't nearly as taxing as the sight but there was still some difficulty; something else that he has been eagerly working on. I tilted my head in his direction to show my confusion. He just moved me over to my seat as he explained. _'The last time he came to our house he thought that he could faintly smell a scent that is common to all shape shifters; He told us that he may have smelled it before when he visited that one time when you were still asleep but he definitely smelled it when you were a wake.'  
_

_'Knowing this you still took me in_,' I said to him with my thoughts.

"Of course," he said and I could just imagine the crooked grin he was sporting. Biology class went on the same as usual. The teacher gave me a big welcome back and started right in on giving us notes. He gave me a printed copy of the notes to use as I please, so all I had to do was sit and pay attention.

After biology Edward and I stopped at my locker to drop my stuff off. Since I lived with them now and no longer had a job I don't have to do my work during lunch any more. We walked hand in hand to the cafeteria. I sat in my seat with the others while Edward got me a lunch; he returned with pizza, seasoned curly fries, applesauce and strawberry milk.  
We talked about how things have been going today and how my classes have been.

"They have been going on the same as usual. I am a bit bored though since I'm not doing much in my classes. I never get called on to read or go up to the board. The teachers have been giving me printed out versions of the notes so I can't even attempt to at least write something. I just sit there and try to understand what I am hearing. The teachers keep on saying 'like this' or 'like so' or 'it should look like this'. I'm like hello, like what, I can't see remember. When I do try to write something and someone notices they say that it looks like a mess and can't tell what it is supposed to be," I said in aggravation while giving a small pound to my temples after running my fingers through my short hair. (I don't have the hat on but I have it stuffed in one of my pockets in case my head gets cold.) This was much harder than I thought it was going to be.

"Cheer up Carrie, I'm sure things will get better," Alice said in her cheery way.

"Are you sure," I asked doubtfully, but hoping all the same. I have been told that 'you never bet against Alice.'

"Positive, I'm never wrong," she said with confidence. She had obviously seen something that is making her so confident.

"What did you see Alice," Emmett asked curious. We all leaned forward, eager to hear what she will say ready to hang off her every word.

"I'm not going to say," she said in a sing song voice and a large smile. I sent a pout her way but she still didn't elaborate on what she has seen. I could hear Edward grumbled a little under his breath so I guess his attempt to find out was unsuccessful. I finished my lunch and when the bell rang Alice walked with me to my locker and then class.

Math class was by far the worse class ever now. I can't see anything that the teacher was explaining so I had no idea what he was talking about. I tried to follow along as best as I can, but it was hard without seeing the examples and it was hard because I was confused about it even when I could see. That class seemed to drag on forever and I was just getting more and more frustrated. If I had any hair that I could get a really good grip on it I would have been pulling it out. I can already imagine the nightmares this class is going to cause.

Alice escorted me to gym where Rosalie already had my locker open and my gym clothes laid out. While I was changing Alice folded my school clothes and placed them in my locker then locked it. Unfortunately I couldn't take my staff with me for it could be seen as a health risk so Alice and Rosalie helped me up the stairs and over to our usual standing area.

That day in gym we were using the weight room doing thirty second reps; during this you either started on a machine or on a step and when the timer started you had to see how many reps you could do within that thirty second. You then had a ten second break to go to a machine or to the steps, do the same thing again, and then switch again. All the while you are moving down a line of twenty some 'stages' to do a different machine. With each step you had to do something different; like just step up and down or step up, over, up/back down, hop up front and back or side to side. Also within the ten second break you are to set an appropriate weight, record how many reps you did and at what weight. The idea for all of this being that when you went back to that step again you would increase the number of reps then later increase the weight. It wasn't too bad with one of the others setting the weight. I just thought that ten seconds wasn't enough time to record and set the equipment so I put down ten reps at five pounds.

Afterward Alice and Rose once again helped me to my locker and with my clothes and everything. I still had trouble maneuvering stairs even with my staff so Alice helped me out while Rosalie had my bag. We met with Edward, Emmett and Jasper outside the gym. Edward took my bag and my hand and walked with me to my locker.

After getting what I needed out of my locker we stopped at his then walked out to his car. The other car was already gone (we walked right through where it was parked at from what I remember) so I asked Edward about this. "You and I are going to our clearing to spend some time together. We haven't had any time to ourselves for a while so I think we should separate ourselves from the others for a bit," he said hopefully.

He put our bags in the back seat and helped me into the car. He got in and we went on our way to the clearing. The entire time we were holding each others hand as they lay on the arm rest in the middle. (Like Jasper and Alice in the movie). We listen to music from the big band era as the snow covered scenery passed by.

When we came to the final stop Edward got out and once again got something out of the trunk and helped me out of the vehicle. Also like on our first date he gave me a bundle to hold then he scooped me up into his arms and took off running. I placed my head on his shoulder and held the bundle close so that I wouldn't drop it.

Edward slowly sent me images of what he was seeing as we came into the clearing. Even though it was snow covered it still looked so beautiful as if there was magic dancing in the air. Edward carried me over to some boulders that had a view of the waterfall. Edward held me in one arm as he took the bundle from my arms and spread it across a large flat rock.

It was a water proof blanket so neither us nor it will get wet. Inside this blanket was another blanket. Edward picked this blanket up then hopped up on the covered boulder. He sat down then arranged me on his lap and wrapped the blanket around me to help cover me up. When he was satisfied with everything he tightened his grip around me and placed his chin upon the crown of my head. We just sat there enjoying the sound of the waterfall, birds chirping and wind moving through the trees.

We sat there enjoying each others company and the silence that this place brought. Even without my sight I could appreciate the beauty of it. Edward would occasionally move his head to rest against my shoulder, have it there for a while then move it back up, but he never said a word.

I was the one to break the silence. "Is there something on your mind Eddie? You seem more, I don't know, tense, troubled," I asked uncertainly not liking how stiff his form felt around me.

"Is there another reason why you took the name Hale," he asked after a moment of silence.

"Well besides my reasons that I stated before, I also thought that people would be more accepting of our relationship if my surname wasn't Cullen. And if our relationship goes any farther my name being different might make things easier," I explained cuddling into his chest more.

"By our relationship going further, do mean by marriage," Edward asked as he placed his chin against my shoulder again.

"Yeah I guess," was my quiet response.

"So if I were to ask you right now to marry me, what would you say," he asked as he placed a small kiss on my jaw line.

"I'm not sure. Right now I would probably say no," I said sadly closing my eyes.

"Why not," he question as he brought his head up and turned me around slightly so we were facing each other a bit more fully.

"Well I'm only seventeen and still in high school. I have no idea what I am going to do about the future like school or anything. That whole situation is now more complicated now that I'm blind." There was now so much more obstacles to overcome.

"I also have to think about what I can contribute to the relationship. What jobs can I get that I can do without sight? I can't really do much of anything. I also have to think about you," I said sadly. No matter how much I would want to I have to think about him. I would be a burden to him, more so then normal since I am both human and blind.

"What do you mean by that," he questioned. I could tell he was gearing up for his side of possible arrangement.

"You know I love you right?" I asked and he nodded an affirmative and a small yes since I couldn't see the movement but I could feel it. "I have never thought that I would ever feel like this for someone, but I have. I love you, not because you draw me in, but I love you for you." I loved him because he's an amazing guy.

"But I'm a human, I can't ask you to tie yourself to me. We could have a few happy decades together but when my time comes you will be all alone and I don't want to do that. I am happy with what time we have had together and will be happy with any additional time we are given to be with each other. You however will live on mourning my death. I don't want you to be unhappy." I paused and took a breath. No matter how much it would hurt it had to be said.

"If a nice vampire woman comes along and grabs your interest, feel free to get to know her and everything. If I'm still around it might hurt me but I will know that you will be able to find happiness with someone you can share forever with. I just want you to be happy." I finished, unable to voice my thoughts any farther. I would begin to choke up if I tried.

"So you won't be mad if I see another woman like me," he asked his voice tinged with disbelief.

"Of course I will be mad but I won't stand in your way of finding happiness with someone you don't have to worry about dying," I said trying to keep the pain the mere thought it gave me out of my voice.

"Carrie, Carrie, Carrie," Edward said with a slow shake of his head. "I love you, I do not question that. You want me to be happy but you bring me happiness. It is you that brings a smile to my face; you are the woman who grabs my interest. Despite you being a human and me a vampire what would you say about me still asking you to marry me?"

"I would say not until I have at least a high school diploma in my hands. Maybe even wait a few years to see if I can get into college and get a career. I don't like the idea of being completely dependent on Carlisle and Esme to pay for everything; I'm use to being independent and getting things on my own." I paused a moment then continued.

"I also say wait a few years to see if you still feel the same. To see if a vampiress doesn't come along," I said.

"What about seeing if you still feel the same," Edward asked.

"I have a feeling that I will still feel the same, but I can't see what will come like Alice can," I told him. _'If I wasn't so concerned about the future I would say yes right now. Heck I would even say let's go to Vegas this instant and get married by guy that looks like Elvis._' I thought to myself, blocking it from him.

After our little conversation silence once again reigned in the clearing; we had been there for a couple of hours before Edward suggested that we should head home. He picked me and held me the way that he did before so that he could roll up the blanket. He carried me back to the car and we rode home in silence.

When we arrived home I was excitedly greeted by Alice and she immediately grabbed my left hand. Her voice didn't seem as chipper when she asked me if I had fun with Edward. I told her that I had a nice time and it was very relaxing for me. Esme also greeted me and told to clean up since supper was almost ready.

After dinner I began on my homework in the living room. The others helped me get it done and Edward sent me images of the work to help me understand it better. School is a lot more difficult now than what I thought that it would be. I can't write anything and math is practically impossible now, but I'm trying to make it work. I just have to last until the end of May.

The rest of the week went by much like Monday did. In English I would type the vocabulary. In the other classes I would write what I wanted with the help of one of my new siblings. I would softly say what I was writing so they would know what I was going to do. It was a bit time consuming but it got the job done.

Today Alice was excited to get to school for today was Valentine's Day. The reason that she is so excited was because the student councils were supposed to decorate the school all festive and everything. Also there is supposed to be the secret cupid's going around today, apparently I missed what that was supposed to be.

"Oh you just missed it. You could have arranged it so that a valentine could have been delivered to someone. You could sign it or leave it anonymous and you could even have a gift with it. It's so much fun to see what people's reactions will be," Alice explained.

"Why did they stop it last week, there was still the three days until now to place a request," I asked.

"To give people time to buy a gift to go along with the valentine if they wanted to add their own gift to it," she said. Today I was going to ride with Alice and Rosalie to school since the boys had already left. On the way to school Alice explained that last night the Valentines were delivered to the classrooms and the teacher just had to hand them out at the beginning of class. That way there weren't any interruptions. The only ones delivered by 'messenger cupids' were the ones that were scheduled to be delivered at lunch.

As we arrived at the school we got out and headed to our lockers. Along the way Alice was describing everything. There were different colored hearts everywhere. Red, pink and white streamers were throughout the hallways; going from one wall, just above the lockers, up to the middle of the ceiling then back down to the other wall. It created a teepee/tent/arch like affect. We went to Rosalie's locker first; when she opened it sitting on the top shelf was a monkey wearing a baseball uniform. It was holding a small sign that said _'To my Rose from your monkey man' _along with a white rose. Rosalie took the rose and tucked it behind her right ear.

Alice's locker was next. She opened it and inside was a small vase of a type of orchid along with a rare book that Alice had been wanting. Inside the front cover was written '_from Jasper' _and that was it. Alice was obviously pleased with the gift; she grabbed it and already skimming the first page. My locker was next.

We were surprised when we turned the corner and there were people gathered in the hall. I could faintly hear some of the most beautiful and intense music I have ever heard playing faintly, but I didn't think anything of it. We worked our way through the crowd to get to my locker; when we got through we stopped and I heard Alice and Rosalie gasp. "What is it? What is wrong," I asked.

"There is nothing wrong, it's just your locker," Alice said words running off in what I could only guess as wonder.

"What about my locker," I asked slightly worried.

"It's … it's covered in roses, reds, yellows, pinks and whites, and there are rose petals on the floor around it," Rosalie said.

"Really," I asked as I slowly stepped toward it with my hand held out. My hand came in contact with something soft and velvety. I moved my hand around and felt the texture everywhere. I took a deep breath and could smell their fragrance. I could tell that the music that I heard earlier was coming from my locker. "Do you guys hear that?"

"Yeah," Rosalie said as she opened my locker. I heard several gasps that had me questioning what was happening. Alice informed me that inside my lockers was a large vase that took up most of the room that was stuffed with more roses. Next to that was Edward's iPod connected to the speakers set up to play the song repeatedly. Rosalie checked the song title which said 'Carrie's song: True Strength'.

"Do you like it," Edward asked as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. He sent me a visual of what had been described to me and I gasped at what I saw. There were indeed in fact roses everywhere and it was just so beautiful. The music was so moving that I was wondering how I could inspire him to write something so lovely.

"Oh I love it" I said as I turned around in his arms. I ran my hands up to his face to draw him down for a kiss. I could hear Alice ushering those who were gathered around my locker away from us. I packed my book bag and Edward and I walked to my first class with our arms wrapped around each other.

In English at the beginning of class the teacher handed out valentines to the appropriate people. I was surprised when the teacher said that I had one so I held out my hands and felt something dropped in them. There was a rectangular box and a card. I felt around on the envelope and felt some bumps, brail, which spelled my name. I pulled out the paper that was in it and felt what it said. _Hi Carrie, I know that we haven't spoken much during the time that you have been here, but I hope that that doesn't prevent us from being friends. Happy Valentine's Day - Angela._ I opened the box and felt a bracelet that was long and had a charm on it.

"It's supposed to be a book if you're wondering and it's a charm bracelet," Angela said from beside me.

"Thank you Angela, it is very nice. I just feel bad because I didn't get you anything with me being gone and all," I said. It would never cease to amaze me how much this place is so unlike the others.

"That's alright. Here let me put it on for you," she said as she grabbed my left arm. I soon felt something slim and cool come into contact with my skin and I thanked her.

"That sure was a lot of roses you got in and on your locker there Carrie," Eric said from Angela's side.

"Yeah really, I'm surprised that Edward didn't like ask you to marry him or something like that," Jessica said from my right.

"Well we did talk about it once," I said offhandedly.

"Really what happened," Jessica asked excitedly.

"Well the other day he was like, 'what would you do if I asked you to marry me'," I said like it wasn't that big of a deal. It kind of was though, marriage. Jessica will probably be all over it since I can tell that she has a crush on my Edward. Did I just call him mine?

"What did you say," Angela politely asked.

"I said no. I mean come on, I'm only 17 and I haven't even graduated from high school yet," I told them.

I heard Jessica scoff and Angela say, "That's reasonable," before the teacher told us to get to our seats so she could start class.

When the bell rung Emmett was there waiting to walk me to class. In Latin I got a Valentine from him that included a teddy bear charm to add to my bracelet. They must have everything planned out. In that class we finished reading Dante and planned on having a test over it on Tuesday.

As usual Emmett walked with me until we met up with Rosalie and we would head to science class. I received a Valentine from her that came with a rose charm which she added to my bracelet. For class we finished up our force and motion labs so we could hand them in tomorrow.

Edward was waiting for me when Rose and I came out of the class. He greeted me with a kiss and held my hand as we walked to biology. Bella greeted me with a hug and asked how I was doing and what I got so far for Valentine's Day. I showed her my charm bracelet as we took our seats. I received four gifts in biology; one from Edward, one from Bella and one surprisingly from Jacob and Charlie.

Edwards gift was, guess what, a charm, which was in the shape of a treble clef made out of tiny eighth notes. Bella's gift was a jeweled hair comb which I would have to wait to use until my hair grew longer than what it was currently. Jacob's gift was also a charm, a howling wolf that was sitting in a crescent moon. From Charlie I got tree charm that said Forks on it. In class we reviewed for a test tomorrow.

During lunch a 'messenger' came to our table with two packages, both of them were for me. The first one was wrapped up in red paper with white hearts and the second one was silver with white outlines of hearts. The silver one was from Carlisle and was a Cullen family colors crest which was a little larger than a normal charm. The red one was from Esme and was a charm of a mother and child embracing forming a heart shape. My charm bracelet was quickly filling up.

In math class I received a charm of a tiara from Alice. In that class we didn't do much of anything and the teacher gave us heart shape cookies. I wrapped Alice's and mine up to save them for later. In gym we had a free day and music was playing. I got Jasper's gift of a civil war flags charm. His charm brought my total up to ten charms.

My new family and I walked around the gym during class since I didn't feel much like sitting down. Edward pulled me to him to dance whenever a slow song played, which I thought was really sweet. I still can't seem to get over how good it feels to be held in his arms. When some songs played that we recognized from when we did line dancing Alice pulled me over to her and we danced to the song. Edward showed me an image of us to let me know that she was actually dancing with me and not allowing me to look like a complete idiot.

After school Rosalie and I stayed for study hall so we, mainly me, could type up our lab reports and add the diagrams. Rosalie was there to correct my paper from the mistakes made that I made. I'm blind so there are bound to be mistakes. She also helped me to draw the diagrams for the labs by making sure that I was drawing them in the right places and that the lines were straight and guiding my hands. We could have done it at home but we wanted witnesses to see that I actually did the work.

Rosalie drove us home where the rest of our family was waiting for us. The house was decorated much like my locker, there were a variety flowers everywhere filling the house with a pleasant fragrance. There was love music playing over the sound system that was set up in the house.

"Happy Valentine's Day sweetie," Esme said as she gave me a hug when I entered the living room.

"Happy Valentine's Day mom, I feel so bad since I didn't get anyone anything," I said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it, there is always next year," she said reassuringly while giving my back a gentle pat.

After we finished our homework we had some fun. Esme gave me a big stuffed dog to go with the bear Emmett got me for Christmas. It was big and white with red ears and had red heart spots with a big pink heart shaped nose with blue eyes set in a pout. Carlisle came home and gave me a large heart shaped box that had all plain milk chocolates in them. "Now don't go eating all of those at once, you'll spoil your supper and get sick," he said in a teasing manor. I placed the chocolates in the fridge so they wouldn't melt. Esme announced that dinner was ready and we all sat down for the meal.

After dinner I studied a bit more for the tests that I had tomorrow before I called it quits for the night. I headed up to my room and took a shower. I came out wearing my pajamas and a towel across my shoulders. My hair was getting longer but it was still really short, it only came down to about my shoulders. Oh how I actually miss my long hair.

I was surprised when I felt something soft and familiar beneath my feet. I was even more surprised when I felt a pair of cool arms wrap around me from behind. I jumped with a small gasp. "Relax, it is just me," Edward said in a whisper his lips brushing my ear sensually.

"Eddie, what have I told you about sneaking up on me," I scolded bringing my hand up to his and held it.

"Ah, not to," he said sheepishly while running the tip of his nose down my neck. I felt myself shiver at the light touch.

"Exactly, what are you doing in here anyways," I questioned him turning my body around so I can face him out of habit. I wanted to see his face. Oh how I wish I could really see it.

"Setting up your room," he said. Before I could question him on what he meant he showed me. There were rose petals everywhere, the floor, the tables, the desk, vanity, shelves, and my bed. On one of the bed side tables was the flower bouquet from my locker with another one to match on the other table. The chandelier was at one of its lowest settings and there were lit candles everywhere adding softness to the light.

Edward let go of me, grabbed my hand and dragged me over to the bed. He sat down on it and pulled me to sit in front of him. He grabbed the combs out of my hand and proceeded to comb out my hair. It didn't take that long considering the length but he took his time doing so.

When he finished he removed the towel, wrapped it around the combs and tossed it toward the bathroom. He grabbed me around my waist and pulled me closer to him. He placed his hands on both sides of my neck and used his thumbs to gently knead the muscles there. He slowly worked his way down and across my shoulders then my back.  
I leaned back into him loving the feel of his hands working on my sore muscles. He leaned his head over my right shoulder, placing kisses along my neck, jaw and cheek. When he came to a particularly sore spot I let out a small moan. He paid extra attention to that area and moved on when he was satisfied.

When he was done with my back he brought his hands up to start working down my arms. The only thing that could make this feel better is if we were in a hot tub like we were during Thanksgiving break, but I'm not complaining either.

"How can you stand it," he asked softly bringing me out of the haze that he had put me in.

"Stand what," I asked him, not sure what he was talking about.

"How can you stand the pain that you go through? Each time our minds connect I can feel the pain that you experience. What I feel from you causes me to gasp and I'm wondering how you can stand it. How can you feel all of this pain yet still go on like normal, giving no sign of your pain," he said.

"As you know I have not had an easy life. There hasn't been a day where some part of me doesn't hurt. I have just learned to work past the pain, to ignore it. I still feel it but I keep my mind focus on other things, preventing the thought of the pain from entering my mind. 'Out of sight, out of mind' you might say. I believe the pain that I feel will help me to eventually make me stronger like the old saying, 'what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.' I try to use my pain as strength. Besides the pain is a reminder, it lets me know that I am still alive, that I am still fighting. When the pain is gone means I have lost the battle to survive," I said in the same low tone I use whenever I spoke of this part of my life.

Edward pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms tightly around me. I placed my hands on his arms and we sat there. We sat there on my bed listening to the romantic music that was still playing throughout the house. "Will you allow me to help you with the pain," his voice is so sinful, sometimes it can feel like a physical caress.

"If I say no is that going to stop you," I asked trying to keep myself under control. My body just felt so warm and fuzzy. Is this what they meant by your body feeling like Jell-O? I feel as though my body could just collapse in on itself or melt into a puddle of water or something like that.

"No," he replied. He started his massage again along with trailing kisses along my neck and jaw but on the left side this time. I just relaxed and let myself get lost in his touch. I could feel myself start to doze off. I was faintly aware of Edward picking me up and pulling back the blankets. He placed me on the bed and crawled in behind me. He pulled the blankets up around us and pulled me to his chest, his arm wrapped snugly around me. I placed my arm on top of his and entwined our fingers. I mumbled a quite good night before I drifted off completely.

Edward's POV

I was just lying there, holding Carrie close to me as she slept. Usually I lay on top of the blankets but tonight I was under them with her so that nothing was separating us. I watched as she slept dreamlessly, going to the only place that she doesn't feel any pain. I would occasionally place a kiss on her cheek, but I just mainly watched as she slept.

I got to thinking about the conversation we had the other day in our clearing. I thought about her response when I asked what she would do if I asked her to marry me. I should know by now to not to be surprised by her response. I could understand where she was coming from, wanting to wait and get her feet on solid ground so to speak. I remember when Bella and I discussed it once she absolutely refused but was okay with us attempting to sleep together. I wasn't willing to do that. I'm more comfortable with marriage first then sleeping together; plus I didn't want to take the chance of hurting her.

I thought back to what caused this new wave of emotions that I am currently experience.

Flashback (To when Edward and Alice were at the jewelers)

"What do you mean by it might look good on her," I asked glancing at the glass case or more precisely what was in the glass case.

"Oh come on Edward, it will look good on her and you two look so good together," Alice pushed.

"But what about the rest of the family, what would they think about it," I asked knowing that while they liked Carrie they might not approve of the relationship moving in that direction.

"I'm sure that they won't mind. It's you that I am worried about. Don't you care about Carrie," she asked me her voice small as if worried. She was worried that I would hurt Carrie if we continued our relationship while I don't love her. I heard her thoughts as she wondered about my relationship with Carrie; if it was an honest relationship or if I felt sorry for her.

"Of course I do," I said my tone a tad defensive. I love Carrie; I know I do. How could she think otherwise?

"Then what's the problem," Alice said with a smile.

"Good afternoon, how may I help you," the salesclerk guy asked.

"I would like to buy that," Alice said pointing to the object in the display case. The guy took it out and had Alice check it out to make sure. I just groaned and ran my hand through my hair in frustration. Alice left that store with her wallet considerably lighter, in a manner of speaking since she used a credit card.

End flashback

During the drive back I was actually thinking about how Alice had done exactly what I wanted to do. Looking back on it now I was just acting the way that I was because I was scared. I was scared of moving out of the comfort area that I found myself in with Carrie at the moment.

All thoughts were put on hold when we came home and we saw our visitors. When I was informed of what happened the incident with Alice was pushed out of my mind completely. My only thought was how Carrie was doing, how she was handling the whole situation. I stayed next to her side for the rest of the evening, happy that she was a part of my family but I couldn't help but want more.

That same night, when she was sure Carrie was asleep, Alice called a family meeting.

Flashback

"So Alice since you called this meeting, mind telling us what it is about," Carlisle asked curiously while leaning forward to place his elbows on the table. He interlocked his fingers together before placing them in front of his face, his chin resting against them lightly. We were sitting at the dining room table in our respective seats.

"This," Alice said as she placed her jewelers bag in the middle of the table. At first no one understood, they all just looked silently at the bag and her in question.

"What exactly is it," Rosalie asked crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back in her chair.

"Take a look," Alice said. Rosalie grabbed the bag and withdrew a small box. She opened the box and gasped at what she saw.

"This must have been really expensive," Rosalie said in awe.

"It was, I had to buy it because Edward here was too scared," Alice said with a smirk and a nod towards me.

"May I Alice," Esme asked. Alice nodded and Rosalie passed the box to her. Esme also gasped when she saw what was inside. The others became even more curious so Esme passed it Emmett, who let out a long whistle, and it eventually made its way to Carlisle.

"This is quite lovely. Why were you so hesitant to buy it Edward," Carlisle inquired curiously.

"I wasn't sure if you would approve," I said running my hand through my hair making it stand up on end.

"Is it for who we think it is," Esme asked. I nodded an affirmative. "Then what is the problem?" she unknowingly asked the same question that Alice had earlier in the day. I looked at everyone else and saw that they had a smile on their faces as well.

End flashback

With the encouragement of my family I gathered the courage and confidence to present the small box to Carrie. That is one of the reasons for why I took her to our clearing. Alice was so mad at me when we came home and Carrie had no sign of the trinket on her. Later that night Alice and Rosalie grilled me on what happened. They were sad for me but tried to cheer me up saying that Carrie didn't really respond with a negative answer and wasn't opposed to the idea.

Alice said that I didn't really try and that I should try again. She said that I should try again on Valentine's Day, just a little harder than I did when at the clearing. I said no because she was already getting so much, I was already holding off on giving her the necklace back, and that it would have been to cliché for her. I brushed these thoughts away and pulled Carrie closer to me and closed my eyes to pretend to sleep.

MAN HAD SUCH A HARD TIME UPDATING THIS TRIED TO UPLOAD AND COPY AND PASTE AND IT WOULD JUST COME OUT ALL CHOPPED UP FINALLY GAVE UP AND HAD TO TYPE IT IN MYSELF, MAN THATS A LOT OF WORK. WELL TRIED TO THNK OF A SONG FOR CARRIE HAD A COUPLE OF POSSIBILITIES, OR AT LEAST HAVE EDWARD COME UP WITH SOME LYRICS, NOTHING CAME TO ME THATS WHY I WAS THINKING OF SONGS, BUT YEAH WELL YOU SEE THE RESULTS. WELL NOTHING MUCH TO SAY AGAIN EITHER, I REALLY NEED TO GET TO WORK ON THIS STUFF: FICS AND DRAWINGS, I HAVEN'T WORKED ON THEM IN A WHILE AND THEY ARE LATE. YEAH WELL UMM .... UNTIL NEXT TIME I GUESS.


	29. Chapter 29

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

HI Y'ALL SORRY I'M LATE. MY COMPUTER WAS REALLY MESSED UP FOR A WHILE AND ITS FIXED NOW FOR THE MOST PART. PLUS I HAVE BEEN REALLY BUSY LATELY AND SO MUCH HAS BEEN HAPPENING. NOW I'M GETTING READY TO GO TO NASHVILLE FOR A WEEK CAUSE MY MOM WON TICKETS TO THE CMA MUSIC FEST AND SHE IS TAKING ME AS HER FRIEND SO I WANTED TO UPDATE THINGS BEFORE I HAD TO GO TO THAT. PLEASE TELL ME IF THERE ARE ANY MISTAKES KIND OF IN A HURRY, NOT A LOT OF FREE TIME. SO i HAVEN'T CHECKED FOR ANY MISTAKES.

THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING **CIAMI, CHIKA1345, TRIFORCEANDSHEIKAHARTS, OVEANICEAGLE. **AND THANKS TO **SILVER NIGHT FOX **FOR ADDING ME TO YOUR AUTHOR ALERT LIST.

**Chapter 29 Planning and Some Fun**

Carrie's POV / author POV details

I could feel myself start to waken, and me being reluctant to do so tried to snuggle back into my pillow. I noticed that my pillow was hard but it still felt nice so I just tried to slip back into the peacefulness that was known as sleep. I knew that it was going to be impossible when I felt my all too constant companion, pain, come back and begin to throb throughout my body.

I let out a small groan of protest and tightened my grip on my pillow. I felt someone begin to rub my back soothingly which helped to alleviate my pain. I slowly opened my eyes and was once again disappointed that I couldn't see a thing. A vision slowly began to form in my mind and I knew then that my pillow was Edward and we were both tangled with in the sheets. Somehow during the night I ended up on his right side from being held to his chest.

Also besides my arm being across his torso holding him to me, my right leg was thrown across his. Our hips were pressed against each other and our legs slightly entangled with each others as well as the blankets. _'This is not how we went to bed last night,_' I thought sleepily.

I felt Edward's hand begin to rub my back soothingly again and I just let myself relax further against him. It was then that I learned where his other hand was. I could feel something cool, smooth and soft yet hard trace patterns on the skin of the back of my upper leg. I went to bed wearing a pair of shorts and an extra large t-shirt.

I reached down with my hand and stopped his before it could move any higher than the bit above mid thigh that it already was. I pulled his hand away and up to his chest and held it there with our fingers entwined. Edward let out a small chuckle at my actions. I let out a small snort and tried to go back to sleep.

"You do realize that we have to get up, don't you," Edward said. I knew we did, but that did not mean I had to like the idea.

I sighed and replied with a small whine, "But I don't want to, I am fine where I am at." To prove my point I just snuggled up against him more and pulled the blankets up to my shoulders. I was surprised when Edward moved and I found myself on my back and Edward was lying on top of me. He held my wrists gently in his hands above my head, our legs even more entangled together and the blankets. His face was pressed into the dip of my neck placing small kisses there. I think Edward was accustomed to using sexual teasing to get what he wants; it probably worked when he was with Bella but I am not Bella. And still … I could feel my face heat up in the position that we were in, it was so … intimate. Edward brought his face up and sent me an image of myself as I lie there beneath him. I looked hopefully into his eyes as he leaned down and kissed me.

"We just have one more day this week, you can sleep in all you want tomorrow," he said when he pulled away.

"Promise," I asked hopeful. I was in dire need of some good old rest and relaxation.

"Promise," he said and sealed with another kiss. He then pushed himself off of me to stand next to the bed. He picked me up bridal style and carried me down to the dining room and placed me in my seat.

"Morning princess," Emmett said and I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Morning Teddy," I said, "and if you are here, good morning Alice, Rose, Jaz." I knew I probably looked insane nodding my head in random directions hoping to greet the ones I mentioned. I nodded in the direction that I felt that someone was; I'm not sure if it was the right people or not or if there was anyone actually there.

"Morning Carrie," they responded. Esme greeted me with a 'good morning sweetie' as she placed breakfast in front of me, which consisted of pancakes and sausage. If this keeps up I'll be fat again in no time.

"Make sure to dress warmly today Carrie, they are calling for snow today," Esme said her voice was warm and caring. It was times like these that she truly felt like a mother to me.

"There sure has been a lot of snow this year," Rosalie commented to which the others murmured their agreement.

"Maybe today after school we can have a rematch," I suggested thinking back to our snow fight from when I first moved here. It seems like such a life time ago since so much has happened from the time.

"That's a good idea. We'll totally kick your guy's butts this time," Rosalie said and I could tell she had a Rose style smile gracing her beautiful face.

"As if," Emmett said crossing his arms. I heard his chair creak as he leaned back from the table, balancing on the back legs of his chair.

"I think we can handle that," Jasper said and his southern drawl was more noticeable now that I had to concentrate on voices to identify the speaker.

After I got done eating Alice helped me to get an outfit together and made sure that I put it on correctly. Edward and I rode to school in his Volvo while Jasper drove the others in Esme's car since Rosalie's needed some maintenance done. (I got tired of Rosalie always driving.)

We arrived at school and parked in our usual places. It was a bit nippy so we headed inside and sat in the cafeteria. We were sitting at our usual table but in different seats. I was sitting in Edward's lap. Jasper got his little magnetic chess board out and challenged me to a game and we played until the bell rang. I have yet to win a game against him or anybody, but I would not let that discourage me. One day I will win a match!

Edward walked with me to my locker where he showed me that the flowers were still there. They were a bit droopy, but they were still there. We walked hand in hand to my English class where he unpacked the things that I needed and left after giving me a English we were doing group worksheets. I was in a group with Angela, Eric, Tyler, Mike and Jessica. Angela gave me a hand in filling out the worksheets and she would read the questions and anything out loud so I knew what was going on. The boys offered some help as well; Jessica didn't do much of anything.

Emmett was there to walk with me to Latin where we reviewed Dante some more, mainly discussing the important people mentioned in the story. In physics we handed in our lab reports and took a test. Rosalie was allowed to help me after she handed in her test and she was only allowed to read the questions and answers quietly in my ear to ensure that we or anyone else could cheat.

Edward greeted me after class with a kiss and we headed to biology. The teacher was a bit late so Bella turned around and started talking with us. We all seem to be getting along just fine compared to earlier in the school year. The teacher came into the class stating that he was late because he had to print off our tests. To prevent me from cheating he sat with me in the back corner and read the test to me. I held up the appropriate number of fingers to indicate what answer I wanted.

I was a couple of minutes late getting out since it took a while to read the questions out loud. Edward was waiting for me though and after a stop at my locker we headed to the cafeteria to see that someone had already bought a lunch for me. Jasper and I continued our chess game. I was getting better but I was nowhere near as good as Jasper or anyone else in my family. At least I was no longer losing in four moves like at first.

In math class we went over our homework for the week and did more practice problems. Well I tried to, I was having trouble understanding it and it didn't help matters that I couldn't see it, but I tried my best. Alice tried to help me by describing the problem in a way that I could paint a mental picture.

In gym we played dodge ball. The teacher told me that I could sit it out but I didn't, I just stuck close to one of my family members holding a ball. They would occasionally shout out a clock position and a distance and I would try to throw the ball that way. I got lucky a couple of times and managed to hit someone. One of which being Mike right in the back of the head as I was told. They would also tell me to jump and dodge and I used my senses to determine how to dodge. That I didn't do too great a job of so I had to of have help from one of my siblings, Edward mainly. I think he just used it as an excuse to hold me, not that I was complaining any.

I was happy at the end of the school day; there was no homework for the weekend. I just grabbed a couple of reading books that I was to read for English, and my math books and headed home with Edward. As the radio had said it had been gently snowing all day and still was when we got home.

Esme was waiting for us in the living room and she had a cup of hot chocolate ready for me on the coffee table. We all curled up somewhere on the furniture as Esme asked us about our day. I mainly complained about the math class. Edward told me that he would help me and that we could get started then. I told him we could get started tomorrow because for now I just wanted to relax.

I was cuddled against him, finishing my cup of hot chocolate when Alice suddenly disappeared. She came back and she was balancing some boards and sleds and inner tubes. "How about we go and have some fun in the snow," she said. We all agreed and Esme took me up to my room so I could change into some more appropriate clothes that would stay dry and keep me warm. Sometimes I think they forget I'm blind. I know that they would never let me get hurt or anything, but what fun could playing in the snow be if I could not see. How much fun could sliding down a hill be if I could not see the trees whizzing by me? Sure the wind might feel nice but I can get that effect by running with Edward. Knowing this I still agreed to go for their sakes if not my own. Plus I was a bit apprehensive about being out in the snow, considering the circumstances last time I was out in it.

After I was changed into more appropriate clothing I was lead to the door where I met up with Edward and Rosalie. They too had changed into something more appropriate, not that it mattered to them. Edward was holding some snow boards in his arms and Rosalie said that she would be the one carrying me to where ever we were going. She also handed me the gloves that she got for me so long ago and helped me to put them on my hands.

"This way I know that your hands are taken care of," she said. I know I have been told by a few different people about how 'mean' or 'rude' Rosalie is, and while I can imagine it I don't see it. Rosalie and I have an understanding or more along the line that we understand each other. We have both been abused by males who are supposed to love us while this is sad we don't want anyone's pity. It is our refusal to be seen as weak that bonds us.

I heard some noise and turned toward it. Alice, Emmett, and Jasper came toward us. Emmett was carrying more snow boards, Jasper was carrying skies and Alice was carrying the ski poles.

"I already moved everything else there, this is all that's left," Alice said as she gestured to what she and the guys were carrying.

"Go have fun, Carlisle and I will meet up with you later," Esme said with a all said our goodbyes as we exited the house. Once we were on the front yard Rosalie picked me up and placed me on her back. "Race you there you guys," she said as I felt the cold air brush against my face, signaling that she had began to run. She wasn't as fast as Edward or Alice, and all the snow was slowing her (all of them) down but she was moving faster than I ever could hope to.

Even though they were all weighed down it was a close tie between all of the vampires as we arrived at our destination. Emmett was a few seconds behind everyone else. His feet hit the ground repeatedly sending a drum like sound echoing through the forest soon followed by a strange whooshing sound and Rose was forced to take a sharp turn as snow brushed us. Obviously Emmett was trying to bury us in the snow. (As he ran toward us the snow moved out of his way as if he was a train coming down the tracks. The snow was flying up on either side of him and we had turned away as he came to a stop or we would have gotten a face full of snow.)

"Where are we," I asked uneasy with the idea of never knowing exactly where I was when I was not at home or at school.

"At one of our places we go when we want to have fun in the snow," Alice said with a grin and a slight hop I can just imagine.

"Hang on," Edward said. I heard some noise signifying that he was putting down what he was carrying. He came up behind me and held my hands in his. Slowly he began to show me the clearing. It was astonishing; it looked like something that would use at a ski resort. There were gently rolling hills that gradually increased in height. There were fewer trees so I wouldn't be running into anything. There was also a few hills that were a straight line down (at angle of course) that would be perfect for sledding and inner tubing. There was also a flat clearing that would be perfect for snow fights and making snow angels and snow forts, things like that.

"Well just don't stand there, let's get started," Emmett stated with a fist pump in the air. With that said we each grabbed something and headed off to do our own thing. Rosalie and Jasper grabbed some skies, Emmett grabbed a snow board and Edward, Alice and I grabbed a sled or inner tube. Edward carried me up to the start of one of the sloping hills, the smaller one and set up the sled he was carrying.

I set the one that I was holding down and was about to sit down on it when I felt someone grab me from behind. They pulled me down to their level and wrapped their arms around me. The person leaned forward so that they could whisper in my ear, "Hold on tight," Edward said. Then louder he said, "Alright Alice, go ahead."

"Roger that," she said. Edward began to show me what was happening. We were currently sitting on a long, wooden sled on the flat part of the hill. Alice placed her hands on Edward's back and gave us a push to go over the edge. The push was hard enough where we went out and dropped down ten feet later. Despite the drop we had enough momentum from the push to keep us going. We gained speed as we traveled down the hill and the sled hopped when we came to a bump that was hidden by the snow.

When we stopped I was laughing, the ride was so much fun. "That was a ride," I said when I managed to catch my breath. Edward leaned back and since his arms were still around me he pulled me down with him. Okay so I was wrong about it not being fun because I could not see. I had not factored in the idea that I would be able to see because of Edward. He has given me so much and now he gives me his eyes. I don't think I will ever get use to the giving nature all the Cullen's seem to have.

"Ready to go again," his voice caressed my ears and I was forced to close my unseeing eyes in pleasure. He was getting harder to resist as more days pass. From what I heard from Bella mainly he was never this 'hands on' before. Sex was not a word in his vocabulary when used in the same sentence as a human girlfriend so, why now? Was he alright with the idea of having sex with a human? When Bella confided in me she had told me she went to Jake ultimately because Edward was not willing to satisfy those human needs. She had complained that he would get her all worked up then force them to stop. I knew she was just trying to justify her reason for cheating even though she did not have to. I also knew that Edward must be acting this way because he was afraid of losing me for the same reason. I hoped he realized that I was not Bella; I would not cheat on him because we were not having sex.

"You bet," I said with a smile as I sat up and went to stand. I was glad that I could block him from my thoughts whenever I wanted. My mind was no place for a boyfriend to be especially when I was having thoughts of said boyfriend. Edward got up grabbed the board, then grasped me around my waist and we were at the top of the hill again. Alice was already on her third time down on the inner tube. I sat down on the sled with Edward standing behind me. He gave me a push to get me started and as I was tilting down Edward hopped on behind me and we went down the hill again.

The three of us took turns going down with each other or by ourselves either on the sled or the inner tube. Whenever I got on the inner tube when Edward or Alice would push me they would make sure that I was spinning. When I got to the bottom I was so dizzy that I ended up on the ground unable to walk straight. It was after one such single ride when I heard Emmett speak to me.

"Hi there princess, what are you doing down there," he asked his voice clearly conveying his amusement to me.

"Hey Emm, I'm down here because I'm too dizzy to walk," I said. I could sense that he was going to ask me why so I just kicked the inner tube that was lying on top of my leg. It was there because I tripped over it on my last attempt to stand up.

"Ah I see, they put a little extra spin on it didn't they," he stated more than asked with a chuckle. "Well come on, we can't have you lying in the snow all day." He reached down and hooked the inner tube on his snow board and grabbed a hold of my wrist. He then proceeded to pull me up the hill. At the top of the hill Rosalie and Jasper had joined Edward and Alice. There were more sleds, tubes, skies and snowboards next to them. "Hey guys, look what I found," Emmett said as he pulled me up so that I could stand on my feet. I was still a little disoriented from my ride.

"There you are Carrie, we were wondering what you disappeared to," Rosalie said.

"Oh I was just down there, waiting until the world stops spinning so rapidly so that I could stand up," I said and I could feel myself wobble a little as I tried to stand on my own.

For some reason Emmett just started laughing his head off. It sounded as if he was trying to say something but he was laughing so hard that nothing could escape. I'm standing there wondering what he would find so funny. Was it something I said? He finally managed to calm down enough so that he was no longer laughing. "You know," he said, "sometimes you are just too cute."

What the heck did he mean by that? I'm beginning to wonder if vampires could get high or something. Emmett once again began to start laughing. Me, being confused as why he was laughing, just said, "Oh shut up Emmett," as I gave him a shove. That shove caused him to start to slide down the hill since he was so close to the slope. Emmett started to flail his arms about but it did him no good. Edward showed me the image of Emmett toppling backwards and rolling down the hill, snow flying everywhere.

When Emmett finally stopped at the bottom he was not moving. I was beginning to worry until he jumped up and started sputtering so we started laughing at him. I then felt someone shove me in the back and I started to fall down the hill. I grabbed the closest thing to me, which was Jasper, hoping to prevent myself from falling. I just brought him down with me instead. We rolled down the hill, bumping against each other and our limbs slightly tangling with each others.

We finally came to a stop about six feet away from Emmett. Jasper was face down in the snow and I was on my back across his upper legs. I let out a small groan because I was dizzy again. If you thought that it was disorienting before, try being blind and dizzy, you lose all sense of direction. I felt Jasper stir underneath me so I rolled off of him the best that I could.

"Have a nice trip there princess," Emmett said. I could tell that he was smirking because I could hear the amusement in his voice.

"Oh I don't know Emmett why don't you tell me, you took the same trip that I did," I said to him as I stood up. I brushed myself off and looked in the direction that I felt and heard someone standing. "Who the heck did that?"

"It was Rosalie," Jasper said quietly. I can tell from his tone that he is already planning his payback, but for me or Rosalie I wasn't sure.

"Oh really," I said as I marched forward to where I thought the hill was.

"Ah Carrie, the hill is the other way," Emmett said sheepishly.

I stopped moving and turned around sharply and started marching in the correct destination. When I felt that I was at the very bottom of the incline I shouted out, "Rosalie, get your pretty blond head down here now!" To emphasize my demand I reached down and grabbed some snow, made it into a snow ball and threw it at an upward angle as hard as I can.

"You missed," Rosalie called out tauntingly.

"Oh yeah," I said to myself. Then louder I said, "Oh Eddie…Alice, Rosie is being mean." I crossed my arms and added a little pout and lip tremble for effect.

I heard Rose say, "Don't you dare Edward, Alice…no…no," was shouted and I heard what sounded like large rocks clash together. Both Edward and Alice shared a look to each other then Rosalie before they tackled her, causing her and them to tumble down the hill. Oh how I wish I could see it.

I could hear them coming down the hill. I had a feeling that I should move out of the way so I began to back up. My moves were a little bit too late, I felt someone collide with me, as if I was tackled, and I fell to the ground with them on top of me. I was sprawled out on the ground, my hands up by my head and my left leg was bent out (naturally). The hat that I was wearing was knocked off. The person on top of me had their head next to mine, their left arm was by my right and the other was pinned between us, their legs were between mine, a very compromising position.

I felt the person on top of me pull their head up and I could feel their breath brush against my cheek. From what I could smell and what I could sort of feel the person on top of me was none other than Edward Cullen, my boyfriend. Just call me Carrie the tomato because that was what I was sure to look like at the moment, with how hard I was blushing at our position.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here," he questioned with a slightly husky voice. "What have I managed to catch as I was tumbling down this hill?" he asked and nuzzled my cheek with his.

"You know, they were right about you. You sure do manage to sweep a girl off of her feet, I just never imagined that it would be by tackling them," I said breathlessly.

"I don't hear you complaining any," he said as he moved around a bit and removed his arm from between us. Gods I missed the ability to see, I could just imagine the way his eyes were sure to be smoldering as he looked at me; the way his eyelids would lower and give him the 'bedroom eyes' effect. He is just way too sexy to be healthy.

"I'm not complaining, but could you get off of me anyways," I said as I wiggled a tiny bit to emphasize my point. A girl could only handle so much you know?

"I don't think so, I like where I'm at just fine," he said as he grabbed my hands and pulled them closer to my head and a bit above them. I could feel the feather light touches of his lips against the skin of my face and lips.

"I'm starting to think that you are a pervert or something, at least attention starved," I said playfully hoping that I did not hurt his feelings.

"Would you love me even less," he whispered into my ear as his nose lightly brushed my skin of my cheek as he pulled away to look at me.

"No," was my answer. Edward leaned down and captured my lips in a soul searing kiss. I responded slowly, still not quite use to this sort of attention, but you won't find me complaining. Edward took his left hand and brought it up to hold the right side of my face, his thumb softly stroking my cheek. I brought my free hand up and placed it on his arm.

We were cut off as a snow ball hit Edward in the side of head, the rest fell into my face. Edward turned his head and sent a glare to the one responsible for the snow ball. Alice was once again standing there with a camera in her hands with a huge smile on her face and Rosalie was looking over her shoulder at us sporting a small grin as well. Jasper was next to them looking indifferent as always. Emmett had his arms crossed over his chest with a big grin on his face.

"About time you two stopped that, I was beginning to think that if things got much hotter you were going to melt the snow," he said and the others let out a small laughs. Edward let out a small growl/ hiss like thing and got up off of me. He reached down to pick me up, and I stood up I handed him the snow ball that I had made. He took it and chucked it to Emmett, hitting him square in the chest.

That started our snow ball fight. It was Edward and I against Rosalie, Alice and Jasper, poor Emmett was by himself. I sat down in the snow and got started making snow balls and placing them in a pile for Edward to use, not that he need help since he was so much faster than I was. I would throw one out but I stuck to mainly making them. Edward was in front of me, off to the side, blocking most of the balls from coming my way, but I still got hit occasionally.

Our game stopped when Carlisle came into the clearing and said that it was time to go home. We didn't realize that we had been out her for about four hours or so and that it was so late in the day. Carlisle came up and picked me up bridle style, he carried me back to the house while the others carried the toys and things. When we got home Carlisle carried me to my bathroom and told me to hang up my wet clothes. He handed me some pajamas and left so that I could change. I hung up my clothes as best as I could and changed into the flannel pajamas then headed to the living room.

Before I could sit down on the sofa I heard Esme call out that supper was ready so I headed to the dining room and took my seat. That night she made chicken parmesan with a side salad. We told our parents how our day at school went and the fun that we had in the clearing. They offered that we all go to the clearing tomorrow or Sunday since it was too late at night for us, mainly me, to go out again.

After dinner I gave Esme a hand with the dishes which she objected to but I did so anyways. Edward gave me another piano lesson which lasted a couple of hours. Then I sat in the living room, listening as Emmett played against Carlisle on a game which he (Emmett) had challenged him (Carlisle) at. It was about ten thirty at night when I went to bed with Edward as my pillow again.

Edward's POV

The next Morning (Saturday)

I left Carrie's bed around four o'clock in the morning. I put a pillow in her arms that way she would have something to hang on to and pulled the blankets up around her. Even though she has been getting plenty of sleep the pain meds and other things that Carlisle has her taking has been leaving her tired as well, plus she is recovering still yet. The rest of the family was sitting in the living room reading books so I sat down on an unoccupied love seat and did the same. The phone rang at around five o'clock; it was the hospital asking if Carlisle could come in to fill in for a doctor who had to take an emergency leave of absence.

That was about an hour ago, Carlisle had left for work and Esme was in the kitchen, planning today's meals. Alice got up suddenly and headed to the front door. After exchanging some looks with the others we got up and followed her. She was standing next to the door as if waiting for something so we stood at the base of the stairs that were near the door.

Soon enough we heard the sound of an engine coming up the drive; we all recognized it as Bella's truck. _'Why is she here, especially so early in the morning?' _From the smell I could tell that the wolf Jacob was with her. Now I was even more curious as to why they were here and how Alice knew they were coming since werewolves usually black out her visions. I heard as they approached the door and ring the bell. Before the bell finished ringing Alice had the door open and was hugging Bella.

"Oh Bella it is so good to see you, we never have any time to talk anymore," Alice said as she pulled away. "Hi Jacob," Alice greeted also to be polite.

"Hi Alice, I hope you don't mind us stopping by so early," Bella said greeting Alice just as happily if not a little awkwardly.

"Not at all, do come in out of the cold," Alice said as she stepped aside and opened the door wider to allow them access. They came in, took their shoes off and hung their coats on the coat rack.

"Hi guys," Bella said to us as she walked towards us heading to the living room, Jacob was right behind her. We gave our own greetings and led the way to the living room.

"Who was at the door," Esme asked as she came out of the kitchen. She spotted Bella and Jacob and went over and greeted them. I could hear Jacob's thoughts and they were still somewhat prejudicing, but not as bad as they used to be. He still distrusts us as a species. "What are you two doing here so early in the morning?"

"Well as you know Jake and I are going to get married and I want Carrie to be my maid of honor. There are some sales going on and I wondered of Carrie felt like coming with us so that she can help me pick out things for the wedding and reception, stuff like that," Bella said but it sounded more like a question. She said it like she was asking permission for Carrie to come with them to shop.

"Oh can I come along please, please," Alice asked, practically begging. Bella nodded yes a bit unsure of why Alice seemed so eager. I could tell that Jacob wasn't all that happy about what Bella was doing but decided to keep quiet. "Good because as it is Edward is going to tag along or at least follow you whether you want him to or not; he is so protective of Carrie."

"So where is Carrie," Bella asked looking around the room obviously trying to spot her.

"She's up in her room sleeping still, it is still early in the morning," Rosalie said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. It would seem that Rose still holds her dislike of Bella.

"Oh well, we can come back later, when she is up," Bella said looking toward Jacob but before he could answer Emmett chimed in.

"Or we can just go up and wake her up, that way this isn't a wasted trip," Emmett said. He disappeared and then reappeared right next to me holding something out toward me. I held my hand out and he dropped an ice cube in my hand. I looked at him questionably and he just said that it was to make sure that she woke up.

I motioned for Bella and Jacob to follow me, which they did. I knocked on Carrie's door to be polite before I opened it. I turned on the light then went over to the window to open the curtains. I then opened and tied back the curtains around her bed. I was standing so that my back was to the window and I reached forward to lightly shake Carrie awake. She stirred some so but didn't wake. I tried again a little harder calling her name and dripping some water from the ice cube on her face. She just let out a groan and pulled the blankets over her head.

I let out a sigh and looked up at our two guests who were watching me. I turned to look back at Carrie who was completely covered by the blankets now. I let out another sigh and reached under the blankets with my ice free hand. I thought that maybe my cool skin would rouse her some from sleep so that it would be easier to actually wake her. No such luck; when she felt my hand, she just grabbed it, pulled me closer and wrapped herself around my arm. Even with my arm like this I could feel how thin she still is; you can still feel her bones to some extent but she isn't a skin covered skeleton any more.

I tried to pull my arm away but her grip was surprisingly strong. The only thing that I managed was that she was freed from most of the ball of blankets that she had created. I heard Bella and Jacob let out some quite laughs and attempt to stifle any louder ones. They were both amused at my predicament. I guess I have to use the ice that Emmett had given me. I move my other hand to go under the blankets then brought it back up under her shirt. I could feel the heat of her back and prepared myself for what I was about to do. I silently counted to three in my head then pressed the cold wet ice cube against her woke her up; she released my arm and stood up on the bed, patting her back trying to get the ice cube out of her shirt. I couldn't help myself, and the others couldn't either, we started laughing. Carrie apparently heard it for she shouted, "Darn it Emmett, what have I told you about the ice."

"I didn't do it," we heard Emmett holler from the living room his voice and thoughts gleeful.

"Then who," Carrie said 'looking' around her room. Her flannel pajamas, which were lavender in color with yellow crescent moons, white stars and purple clouds, were wrinkled and slightly skewed from sleep. Her eyes were like too peas in the snow, heavy with and from sleep. Her hair was all tousled, sticking up and lying weird, a classic extreme pillow head. She just looked so cute then, as Emmett would say; I think it just added to her appeal.

"Sorry Carrie," I said, "it was me."

She slowly turned her head and glared in my direction. She walked to the edge of the bed and stepped off onto the floor still glaring at me. "Edward…you better run," she said with a small glare. I backed away from her; I made sure that my foot steps were loud enough so that she could follow me. She chased me around the room a bit, but the sound of Bella and Jacob laughing stopped her in her tracks. "Edward who is in here," she asked getting into a defensive mode. You wouldn't have recognized what she was doing if you didn't know her.

"Bella and Jacob, they were wondering if you were free to go look at stuff for their wedding," I told her.

"Oh what time is it," she asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Going on six thirty," Jacob answered her.

"Six thirty," she shouted. She whirled around so that she could face me. She was a little bit off and I moved so that I was directly in front of her "I thought that you promised that I could sleep in," she demanded crossing her arms with an adorable pout.

"I did but I didn't know that they would be coming to take you somewhere," I said adding a defensive tone to my voice so she would be able to tell I was sorry.

"Fine," she said with a sigh, "send someone up to help me get dressed, I'll be down when I am ready." I stepped toward her and gently grasped her shoulders. I leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. I pulled away and motioned for the others to exit and I led the way to the living room.

"Rosalie, go help Carrie with her clothes," I said to Rosalie and she got up from where she was looking through a magazine and went up to her room.

"Breakfast is almost ready, if someone would set the table for me please," Esme said into the living room. Jasper and Emmett got up and headed to do as Esme asked. Alice went over and sat on the sofa next to Bella and began talking with her.

Esme called us into the dining room and we all took our seats. Jasper, Emmett and I took our usual seats, Esme sat in Carlisle's seat, Jacob in Alice's seat, Bella in Carrie's and Alice was in Rosalie's usual seat. Bella was complaining lightly that Esme didn't have to feed her and Jacob when she placed a plate of food before them both. Esme just said that she needed to eat, she was eating for two and it was rude not to offer food to everyone who was there when food is being served.

Rosalie and Carrie came in then. Rosalie had Carrie dressed in a pair of faded flair blue jeans, a baby blue v-neck knitted sweater, like the one that was ruined, with a dark navy blue turtle neck under that. Her hair was left loose due and her makeup was done to go with her outfit. I noticed that Carrie was headed to her regular seat, she could move around pretty well now unaccompanied. I motioned to Rosalie to bring her over to me and she did. Carrie seemed slightly confused but didn't argue. Rosalie brought her over to me and I just pulled her into my lap and sent her picture of what was in front of her. Rosalie sat in Esme's usual seat.

"Oh goodie, French toast," Carrie said as she grabbed her glass of orange juice. It was a silent the only sound was the sound of Carrie's and Bella's utensils moving across the plate as they ate. Carrie stopped eating for a moment and I was about to say something but she beat me to it. "You're not eating Jacob?"

"How do you know," he asked slightly shocked.

"It's not that hard to figure out. I only hear two sets of utensils moving, mine and those across from me, which is Bella," she said.

"How could you tell that," Jacob asked still clearly not understanding.

"You don't always need your eyes to see and sometimes sight blocks the other senses. Besides I have always been observant, it is something that I have had to learn to survive all these years. I can tell from my hearing and smell that you are not sitting across from me. You breathe heavier and deeper than Bella. Your scent reminds me of burning pine and somewhat of a dog when Bella's scent reminds me of Freesia and strawberries. So I ask you again, why aren't you eating? Esme didn't poison the food or anything," Carrie said.

Jacob just let out a huff and crossed his arms. Bella had stopped eating by now and was watching their interaction.

"You have got to be a little more trusting. I know that you have legends about vampires, the cold ones, but what reason do you have to dislike my family. They are not the same ones that terrorized your ancestors; they are only the ones that were found hunting on your lands. So they are different, you are different also; we are all different from anyone else. If we were all the same, it would be a boring world in which we live." Carrie stated her tone sounding more like a teacher informing the know it all brat that he was misinformed.

"My family is not mindless blood sucking beings and without them I would most likely be dead if I didn't trust them. I'm not sure where I would be if I didn't open up to them. All I ask is for you to be a little bit more open also so I ask you again, why you are not eating," Carrie asked.

Jacob just sat there staring at Carrie with a shocked look on his face. Carrie was just facing his direction, her eyes closed and a small smile on her face. Bella had returned to her meal by now and Jacob finally let out a sigh a picked up his fork to begin eating his now cold French toast. "You sound as if you are an elder or a wise one," he mumbled. Carrie just smiled a bit bigger before she turned back to her breakfast.


	30. Chapter 30

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

HEY THERE VALLEYGOAT HERE. SO SORRY THAT I HAVEN'T BEEN STICKING TO MY UPDATE SCHEDULE, I'VE BEEN BUSY LATELY. BUT HERE I AM WITH THE NEXT CHAPTER LOL. ANYWAYS THIS IS KIND OF A FILLER CHAPTER. I CAME UP WITH THE DATES BECAUSE THAT IS ROUGHLY WHEN I STARTED TO THINK ABOUT MAKING SOMETHING OUT OF THE DREAM I WAS HAVING. I DREAM WHEN I SEE A BATTERED BRUISED BLEEDING AND CRYING GIRL SHIVERING AND COWERING IN AN UNDERGROUND DEN WITH HER FACE OBSCURED IN SHADOWS. AND WELL YOU HAVE BEEN READING THE RESULTS. I THANK YOU ALL THA THAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THIS AND HOPE THAT YOU CONTINUE TO DO SO IN THESE LAST FEW CHAPTERS. AND I WARNING THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER THAT HAS BEEN EDITED BY CHIKE SO THE REST OF THE CHAPTERS HAVE NOT BBEN LOOKED OVER BY ANYONE.

THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN FOR MY FAITHFUL REVIEWERS : **CIAMI**, **CHIKA1345**, AND **TRIFORCEANDSHEIKAHARTS**

OH YEAH I BE UPDATING A BIT MORE OFTEN SO THAT I CAN GET THE REST OF THIS STORY BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS IN THE FIRST WEEK OF SEPTEMBER, SO KEEP AN EYE OUT. STILL WORKING ON DRAWINGS WHEN I HAVE THE TIME, WHICH HASN'T BEEN MUCH LATELY, AND I'VE BEEN WORKING A LITTLE HARDER TO MAKE 'DESTINY' BETTER BECAUSE I'M NOT LIKING HOW IT IS TURNING OUT SO FAR

**Chapter 30 Birthday Celebration**

Edward's POV

It has been about a month since Bella and Jacob had stopped by the house to pick Carrie up to help with the wedding. They have stopped by every other weekend to discuss the wedding and do the things that were involved with that. Alice always went with her because she thought that it was fun. Also at one point she was planning Bella's wedding, when we were together. I always went with her because I was going to keep my promise of never letting Carrie get injured again. Jacob seems easier going around us since that first morning and he actually seems likable. The last time he came here he brought one of his friends from the reservation with him. Quil was his name; he seemed really shy and uncertain, but with Carrie's help he opened up. It's amazing how Carrie can help people when she has been through so much. When she first came to Forks she was very reclusive and closed off, it was a wonder that she could manage to get others to come out of their shells.

Anyways back to happier thoughts today is Friday March eighth which means that tomorrow is Carrie's birthday; she'll be turning eighteen. I remember how Bella acted when it was her eighteenth birthday. She was all mad because she would be older than me and that I hadn't changed her yet. And again I could not help but think of the differences between Carrie and Bella. Carrie has never once asked or tried to pressure me into changing her as Bella had on many occasions.

To get back on track the rest of the family and I have been planning a surprise birthday party. Well two actually, one for today after school which Bella planned that way people from school and the reservation could attend, the second would be on Saturday with just the family. Bella did the planning for the one today; she said that she wanted to celebrate also so we just left her in charge of it with the help of Alice of course. All of this was going to be a surprise. It seemed kind of weird that a girl that didn't want to celebrate her own birthday would want to do something to celebrate others.

We were currently sitting in the living room waiting for Alice to get done playing dress up with Carrie. I heard footsteps signaling that they were coming down. Emmett, Rosalie and I had to cover our mouths to prevent us from laughing. Alice had dressed Carrie in something that was … different. Carrie was wearing tight black pants that didn't flair but stayed skin tight all the way down her legs with a green, tutu like skirt that came down only two inches past her butt. For a top she was wearing a purple sweater with bands of lavender going across her body and down her arms. Over top of that was a black vest that was zipped up to the bottom of her chest around mid torso. To top it off she had on dark purple eye shadow, pink lip gloss; her hair was done into two high pig tails and she had on black boots. She looked like some sort of army pixie. Alice was dressed in something similar but not quite as … unique as what she had Carrie wearing.

"Why do I have the feeling that I should change into something else," Carrie said as she fiddled with the skirt obviously uncomfortable.

"Why do you say that Carrie," Rosalie asked curiously. I could tell from her thoughts that she thought Carrie looked cute in the outfit.

"Well I feel different and I don't like how these pants are tight. Plus a skirt that feels puffy over top of those. On top of that a turtle neck I'm wearing with a thin vest, and the pigtails… I just have a feeling that Alice has taken advantage of me being blind by dressing me up in something that makes me look totally foolish. Edward, show me what I am wearing," she said as she turned in my direction.

"Come on you don't look too bad. Besides we have to go to school," I said hoping to divert her.

"That proves it I'm going to go change," she said as she turned around and headed back to the stairs.

I just went toward her picked her up, tossed her over my shoulder, and began to carry her toward the garage. "Come on we are going to be late for school," I said trying to keep the small amount of amusement out of my tone.

"Let me go, we are never late for school we are always practically an hour early. Besides with the way that you drive we can never be late unless we actually left the house after school started for the day," she said while struggling to get loose. I just continued to carry her to my car with Alice following us closely with her backpack. I place her in the back seat and buckle her in. Alice gets in beside her and I get into the driver's seat. She tried to get out but I locked the doors on her.

The whole drive to the school Carrie is sulking in the back seat with her arms and legs crossed mumbling under her breath about tricky pixie looking vampires and unhelpful boyfriends. Alice and I just share a look by the rear view mirror and shake our heads. We arrived at school and we had a small struggle getting Carrie out of the car but she had no chance against us, vampire strength and all.

She continued to sulk as we stood around our vehicles. She only brightened up slightly when I draped a coat across her shoulders since it was still chilly out. It was a trench coat so she put it on and buttoned it up, completely shielding her outfit from view. When it was time for us to go in I shouldered Carrie's bag as well as my own, grabbed her hand and walked her to her locker. The jingle from the bells on her staff followed us as we walked along.

At her locker we had a little struggle... fight... debate, whatever you want to call it, over getting her to take the coat off. I actually had to grab a hold of her and take the coat off of her. When her locker was shut and she couldn't get back in I grabbed her and her bag and walked her to the English class. She actually pulled away to walk ahead of me, still pouting. The click of her staff on the floor and the ring of the bells announced her approach in the halls to the other students. Just like at home she has come to be able to move around more normally around the school; the bells let people know that she is coming and they move out of the way.

When we got to the English class I set her bag by her desk and pull her toward me, holding her in my arms. "Now are you going to be in this bad mood all day or what," I said. My answer was a raspberry. I could feel the eyes of the other people in the class on us. "What have I told you about that," I asked. She just shook her staff in my face. I decided that she needed a little punishment so I moved her in such a way that I was leaned over and I was the only thing holding her off of the ground. I was holding her like a dip in a dance or like the kiss scenes in the older movies. "I could just drop you, you know?"

"But you won't," she replied completely sure of this fact.

"Are you sure," I asked as I let her drop a couple of inches.

"Positive," she said completely unruffled by the preserved threat.

"Well if you're sure," I said as I brought her back up to stand on her feet, "I guess that I just have to do this!" I proceeded to tickle her very sensitive sides. She was squirming, trying to get away and we were both laughing. I stopped when I heard the tardy bell ring, meaning I just had a minute or so to get to class. I stepped away and headed to the door; before I went through it I turned back to her and said, "So are you going to answer my question? Are you out of a bad mood now?" She just turned toward me, crossed her arms across her chest and did another raspberry, with a little shake of her staff at me. I just shook my head with a small smile and left for class.

Carrie's POV

I stood there glaring in the direction that the door was, just in case he was still there. "What was that about," Angela said from my right. I could hear the others coming closer as well. Ahhh the gossip mongers.

"Our dear sister Alice decided to have some fun with me today," I said a bit sourly.

"What do you mean by that," Eric asked and he truly sounded confused as if he could not tell just by looking at me.

"Look at what the evil little pixie did to me," I said as I held my hands out to the side and did a little spin so that they could take in my whole outfit.

"What the heck are you wearing," Jessica asked and I could tell by the tone of her voice that I was right in my assumption. Alice had dressed me in some monstrosity.

"That is what I would like to know. It feels so different from what I usually wear. She knows that I can't see so she took advantage of that when she helped me get ready this morning," I said my tone angry. I knew I was going a little over board with the anger and irritation I was feeling, but darn it! I was never one to rely on others for anything and now I have to rely on others for practically everything. Being blind was getting on my nerves!

"Well I think that it looks cute," Angela said and I could tell she meant it.

"Yeah, it reminds me of Avril Levigne, the punk rock Sk8er Boi girl," Tyler said with amusement clear in his voice.

"Gee thanks Tyler, that makes me feel a whole lot better," I said with sarcasm. We all took our seats as the teacher came in. When she was taking attendance it was noted that today was my birthday. She wished me a happy birth day and said I could have an apple out of her fruit bowl or I could have a donut out of the box that she brought in for the English and language teachers. I took the apple because I prefer that over a donut; I've never had much of a sweet tooth for things like that. We didn't do much in that class today we just talked about current events and things like that.

Edward was waiting for me today instead of Emmett and he walked with me to class. "Are you still mad at me," he asked as he put his arm around me.

"If I was is there anything I can do about it now. People have already seen my outfit so there is no use hiding it now," I said feeling my irritation flare once again.

"Just admit it you can't stay angry at me anyways," he said with a grin.

"Oh and why is that," I asked raising my brow in question as I turned my head in his direction.

"Well I'm devilishly handsome and charming," he said in a boastful way.

"You forgot to mention your big ego," I said as I rolled my eyes then pulled away from him and gave him a little rap on the behind with my staff before I stepped into my class. Before I could take my seat after setting my bag down, someone grabbed me and picked me up from behind.

"There she is," Emmett said as if to a little kid, "there's the little princess." He was currently swinging me around and making me dizzy.

"It's only been what an hour, don't tell me that you missed me already," I said as my head rolled slightly from side to side from the movement.

"What can't I miss my little sister," Emmett said as he put me down. "Besides, just look how cute you are," he said as he held one of my hands above my head and proceeded to spin me around like a top.

"And I think you are trying to make me so dizzy that I can't walk straight for the rest of the day," I said as I pulled away and attempted to stand up straight and not fall down. I wobbled a little feeling the effects of vertigo as I tried to reclaim my equilibrium.

"I heard that something special was this weekend," Ms. Simon said as she came in and sat two extra large cups of coffee on her desk. "I heard that Carrie Hale has a birthday tomorrow. So you'll be turning 18 tomorrow, and adult. I bet that that's exciting."

"I guess, just another year that I have survived, a higher number to go with my name," I said with a shrug. Birthdays had long ceased to mean anything to me. I felt Emmett put a comforting hand in my shoulder and gave a little squeeze. I reached up and patted his hand. I had not meant to make him feel remorseful.

"Well being such a cool teacher that I am, I'm not going to assign any homework for the weekend," Ms. Simon said. The rest of the class let out some cheers at that. Of course Ms. Simon had the class sing happy birthday which was embarrassing. To make it even more so the entire time Emmett was playing with my pigtails like they were reins. I shooed his hands away but he just started messing with them again a short moment later. (The length of the hair is a couple of inches past my shoulders.)

Class was much the same as usual; working in our groups doing a packet that the teacher had given us. When the bell rang I packed up my stuff and stood up, but before I could grab my bag, Emmett picked me up and was holding me under his arms like one would a football. (I was mainly sideways to the ground.) "Put me down Emmett, I can walk on my own," I said exasperatedly. He just ignored me as he carried me through the halls to my next class talking excitedly about this that and something else. I will never get use to the public manhandling my new family seems so use to doing to me.

Emmett carried me through the halls until we ran into Rosalie, he put me down then. When I was back on my feet I smacked Emmett in the arm and turned around in a huff. I heard him laugh and Rosalie came up beside me listening as I muttered under my breath. She just bumped her shoulder with mine to get me to stop then grabbed on to the staff held in my hand and pulled me into class by it. In physics I was once again wished a happy birthday by the teacher and class and then we took our usual Friday test so it was quiet during this time.

After class as I was walking out with Rosalie I was surprised when I found myself in an embrace and being lifted up. _'What is it with people picking me up today?_' It was getting old fast. It was also a bit startling since I can't see it coming. I never know who it is that grabs me, if they are friend or foe or if their intentions are good or bad.

"It's because your reactions are so amusing," Edward answered my thought and I exhaled with a shake of my head easing away some of the stiffness of my form.

"Are you so bored that you decide to pick on me to get your entertainment," I asked a little peeved.

"No, but I figured that you might like it," he said as he put me down. I could tell by his tone of voice that he was pouting slightly. He is so lucky that I don't like seeing him sad.

"Fine," I said in defeat. I could feel the happiness coming off of him. He pulled me to him so that I was facing him and he picked me up in his arms. I was facing this way because of my book bag on my back. He picked me up high enough where I could just barely stand on my tip toes on his feet though I wasn't putting much weight on them. He held me close as he carried me to our biology class. It felt weird and I could feel the people staring at us and hear their whispers, but it makes him happy. When we came to the door for class he set me down so I could walk in on my own two feet.

Edward grabbed my hand and led me to my seat. I just got a pencil out for we were going to be taking a test today. It's supposed to be over everything since Christmas break as a 'review guide' for the second semester midterms that were going to be taken before spring break. Again when the teacher took attendance he noted that my birthday was tomorrow and as a present he gave me a bonus point on my test. He didn't want to give me more than that because it would have been unfair. For the test I sat in the back with a teacher's aide so that the teacher would be free to answer any questions if needed.

After class Edward was waiting for me since I take longer now to take the tests. He held my hand as I dropped my books and things off at my locker. Edward had already done so with his things as he was waiting for me. "Bella says happy birthday by the way. She would have told you herself but we had the test and you take longer now, so she left me with the message to tell you," Edward told me. "Don't worry I thanked her for you."

"So you're my spokesman now," I asked him teasingly. He retaliated by dropping my hand and proceeded to tickle my sides. When he arrived at the cafeteria he ceased his attack on my sides and held the door open for me; he is such a gentleman. We came to the table as Rosalie arrived with a tray of food. The Cullen's are back to buying food again but they get things that they can take home to save them for me later. Rosalie had gotten me chicken nuggets with barbeque sauce, a roll with butter, cheesy potatoes, peaches and strawberry milk.

"Thank you Rosalie," I said as I sat down in my seat. (If I hadn't mentioned it they were sitting like they were in the movie with Carrie in between Edward and Rosalie. They occasionally sit in different places but this is the main sitting arrangement.)

"So what do you want for your birthday Carrie," Alice asked eagerly. I could just picture her sitting at the edge of her seat with her hands clasped on the table with her constant smile on her face that would be just a tad bit larger.

I 'looked' at her, well faced her direction, in confusion. "I haven't given it any thought to be honest. I'm used to not thinking about it. Before I usually got a beating from Thom, that's how I figured out when roughly my birthday is. It used to last from the seventh to the eleventh so I chose a day in between that I liked to be my birthday. I never really celebrated it before, I used to stock up on healing herbs, water and clean rags so I could take care of myself and any injuries I may have had," I said nonchalantly.

"But if you were able to ask for anything what would it be," Emmett urged.

"I don't know I already have everything that I have ever wanted. I have a family to call my own, loved ones, friends. I have a home, a roof over my head, a bed to sleep in, and food and other things so I don't have to dig it out of the trash anymore," I said as I scratched the back of my head with an embarrassed smile on my face. I felt Edward gently take my left hand and hold it with both of his.

"There has got to be something that you don't have that we can get you," Rosalie asked.

"Well there is one thing, but it will be impossible now," I said dismissively after I gave it some thought.

"What is it," Edward asked a hopeful tone in his voice.

"Well I've always wanted a motor cycle, but without my sight I won't be able to get an operator's license for it," I said with a small chuckle. They too chuckled at that, and I continued to eat my lunch. When I finished eating Edward pulled me closer to his side and I rested my head on his shoulder and his arm around my back, holding my side. I heard Jasper get up and take care of my trash for me. When the bell rang Edward placed a kiss on my forehead before Alice hooked her arm with mine and walked with me to my locker then to class.

In math class, the teacher was the only one all day that didn't wish me a happy birthday. We went over our homework and were given the rest of the class time to get started on the one hundred problems that he assigned as homework. He allowed Alice to work with me as long as we didn't get too loud. She did a problem and then she would help me with the same problem. We got about twenty questions done by the time the bell rang.

Alice and I walked to gym much the same way that we did on the way to the math class. We were surprised however as we arrived outside the gymnasium for everyone was gathered outside of it since all of the doors were locked. We stood over with the rest of the family as we waited for someone to open them. Eventually an older man came and apologized for being late. He explained that he was the substitute teacher for the regular teachers had to leave for some reason. He told us that we could do whatever we wanted since he wasn't left with any directions on what we were supposed to be doing that day. The bleachers were pushed in so we sat in a corner away from everyone else.

I lay down on my stomach next to a sitting Alice who was being held by Jasper, hoping to get some more work done so I wouldn't have as much to do during the weekend. Before I could get to work though I felt someone pick me up and brought my back to their chest. I brought my knees up so that my feet were flat on the ground. I felt a pair of legs move under mine so that the person was sitting Indian style; then a felt a weight being placed in my lap.

"Now let's see how much of this work we can get done, shall we," Edward said next to my right ear. I knew that it was him to begin with because of the way he felt and the way that he smelled. Everyone of my new family has differences that I can detect with my heightened senses that helps me to identify them. Edward allowed me to see what I was doing, but I was still confused about it, so he tried to explain it to me. He made it sound so easy yet it was still like Greek to me.

The teacher actually came over to us a few times and said that we were being inappropriate and to separate. The first time I moved to sit beside Edward, my back against the wall, but his arm was still around me and we were flushed against each other. The teacher kept coming up to us though, even though Emm, Rose, Alice and Jaz were sitting much the same way, so I moved over to Alice and Edward was sitting in front of us. Edward tried to show me what Alice was seeing since his view of the book was upside down, but it was hazy since we haven't put that much practice into doing something like that.

I managed to get forty problems done though when the bell rang, leaving forty to do for homework. I was a little curious when Alice said that I should stay here at school with Edward and Jasper to finish my homework in study hall instead of going home like we usually do. I wasn't given much of a choice really when both Edward and Jasper grasped one of my arms and lead me off to a classroom that was used for study hall. I was confused as to why they were doing this but I just let them drag me along. Usually there is no talking allowed in study hall, but the teacher, like everyone else, knew about me so he allowed us to sit in a corner by ourselves so they could help me as long as we kept our noise level down.

Like the rest of the family Jasper was really good at math, due to all of their practice, but he seemed to be naturally good at it like Edward is with Biology. Jasper had some trouble explaining the math to me at first, since he is so quiet and doesn't talk much, but he was so straight forward with the explanation that I found myself understanding it a bit better. Thanks to Edward's gift I could watch as Jasper did example problems and to allow myself to see what I was writing. By the end of class the math was a more easily translatable version of Greek to me. More importantly I finished the assignment.

After we stopped at each other's respective lockers we headed to Edward's Volvo. "We have to stop by the hospital first. I promised Esme that I would drop something off at the hospital for Carlisle," Edward said. I nodded to let him know that I was fine with that. I was confused once again as we just sat in the car, Jasper was behind me in the back seat.

I listened as the other cars left the parking lot, usually we are the first ones to leave but today it sounded as if we were the last ones to leave. I didn't say anything as we finally started our way to the hospital. I did notice however that Edward appeared to be driving slower than usual for it felt and sounded different. "Is there something wrong," I asked concerned.

"Why do you say that," Edward asked but something about his tone was off, different.

"I'm sure you're aware of what I'm thinking, but I am wondering if there is something wrong because we left school at the end of the day and not at the end of gym as usual. Second it sounded as if we were the last ones to leave the parking lot instead of close to the first. Third if I'm right you're not going the speed limit," I pointed out.

"I never go the speed limit though," Edward said acting oblivious to why I was asking so many questions.

"I know that but this time you are going under the speed limit, probably by at most five miles an hour, you are going under not over," I said. "The motor sounds as if it is not working as hard as it does when you drive fast and it sounds too soft to be the speed limit forty."

"Well the street is quite busy and crowded," Edward said.

"Funny it doesn't sound that way. I haven't heard a single car pass us so if you wanted to you could pass anyone in front of us like you usually do," I continued to push the issue.

"Maybe you are mistaken," he said his tone nonchalant.

"I'm blind not deaf. My ears were pretty sharp to begin with and now that my sight isn't in the way, so to speak, they are even keener so I know what and what I don't hear," I said as I crossed my arms across my chest. I heard Jasper let out some chuckles under his breath and I heard and felt Edward reach back and try to slap him. I just sighed and turned on the radio. Edward had a Debussy CD in so it started playing where it left off.

We arrived at the hospital and Edward got out of the car. "Funny, I didn't hear him take anything with him," I told Jasper. He made a small noise like an 'hn' but otherwise said nothing.

"Fine then, keep your secrets," I said as I crossed my arms.

"I have many secrets that you will never know," he said his tone slightly taunting.

"Well as my job as your new little sister I will find them out and tease you about the embarrassing ones," I gleefully informed him.

I heard and felt him scoot forward in the seat and felt a hand on my head. He ruffled my hair as he said, "Good luck with that." I just knocked his hand away and tried to fix my hair then we sat back to wait for Edward to get back.

I'm not sure how long we waited for but Edward eventually came back. As we left the hospital I again noticed that Edward was still driving much slower than usual, the sounds of the city wasn't disappearing as quickly. Of course while we are in town he drove the speed limit as to not raise suspicions. Too soon we came to a stop after pulling in somewhere. It couldn't be home for we are still in the city. "Where are we? Do we have to make another stop," I asked. I didn't get an answer as they got out of the car. Edward opened the door and helped me out of the car. I immediately clamped on to his arm; I was worried and I didn't know where we were and the boys weren't answering me.

"Relax," Jasper said as he came up beside me. No doubt he was feeling my emotions, but I could not help it. I did not like not knowing where I was.

"I will once you tell me where we are," I said.

"We are at Maria's, happy now," Edward said as we walked through the door. Sure enough I heard Megan greet us. I relaxed a bit when I heard her voice, but I was wondering why we were here. I walked beside Edward since he had a hold on me and I of him. From what I can remember we were heading to one of the larger rooms that were for large gatherings. '_Why would we be going back there_?' Edward thanked Megan as I heard her walk away. I heard the door open and we walked through.

"SURPRISE," I heard several voices shout. I let out a small scream as I jumped, scared at the shout. I latched on to Edward even more and attempted to hide behind him, or more into his side. I heard him laugh a bit as he wrapped his arms around me. That was so not funny! I was terrified.

I pulled away a bit when I heard, "Surprise Carrie," from Alice as she tackled me in a hug.

"What is this," I asked as she released me.

"It's a surprise birthday party," Bella said. "There are people from school and the reservation here."

"Really," I asked as I received a hug from Bella.

"Really," Angela said as she gave me a hug as well. I turned to back to Edward and he again took me into his arms and he began to show me the room. There were balloons in every corner and a bunch scattered about. There were streamers pinned up everywhere. Across the back wall was a banner that said 'Happy Birthday Carrie' in large hand painted letters. Along the same wall were three tables that were filled with food from salads to pizza and various kinds of drinks. In the middle of the room was another table that had a three tiered cake that had a tie dye like affect going on with the frosting. Around the cake were presents placed on the table.

I could feel the tears start to build up behind my eyes. It really stung but I was so touched that all of these people would do this even though I don't really know them or hang out with them. Edward tightened his grip around me and the rest of my family gathered around. "What's wrong Carrie," Emmett asked. I could tell they were all worried, except probably Jasper since he could feel I was touched by this jester, about the water works.

"You did all of this for me? Why," I asked as I pulled away from Edward.

"Of course we did it because we all care about you," Alice said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and to her it might have been. It is still hard to except that after all this time I now finally have people who care about me.

"Now come on and dry those tears. I, as the awesome DJ for the night think that it is time to get this party started," Eric said and upbeat music began to play. A laugh escaped me as Edward pulled me toward the area designated as the dance floor. I danced with him, Jacob, Eric, Mike, Tyler, Emmett and Jasper. I even danced with Sam, Seth and Quil along with a couple of others from La Push. Edward was a bit tense as I danced with them, but things worked out. I really don't see why they don't get along; they seem to do alright when I'm around. I know that there was some trouble between their species in the past but that shouldn't prevent them from getting along.

I was currently sitting in Edward's lap eating some pizza. Some people were sitting around and eating while others, Alice and Jasper included, were on the dance floor. Everyone appeared to be having a good time from what I could hear and what Edward would occasionally show me. Suddenly the music stopped playing and everyone turned toward the stereo to see the cause. Mike was standing there with Jessica hanging off of his arm. "Now don't get me wrong," he said, "but I think that it is about time that the birthday girl to blow out the candles and open some presents." His response was cheers from those that had gathered.

"Alright, that sounds good to me," I said. I heard everyone grab a seat and Alice, who was next to me now, got up to light the candles, which were sparklers. Somebody turned off the lights so the only light came from the candles, then everyone sang happy birthday. Edward and I stood up when they finished and walked up to the cake. He sent me a vision so I could blow at the candles, but made it appear as if he was helping me, guiding me to blow them out. When the candles were eventually blown cheers were made. I laughed as Edward pulled me toward him and placed a kiss on my lips. He pulled back over to the chair and back into his lap.

The cake was cut and people handed me there presents. The gifts I received were as such: Mike - basketball charm, Eric - a star charm, Tyler - football charm, Angela - books that were in brail, Jessica - a dress charm and designer sunglasses, Leah - feathered hair pieces, Sam - baked goods from his girlfriend Emily, Paul - a hand woven tunic with wolves as a decorative border, Bella and Jacob - over twenty different Indian chokers, Seth - a giant grey wolf stuffed animal, Quil - some shawls and quilts, along with some other things from other people in attendance and some last minute ones from my former co-workers.

"Well that does it for all of your presents," Rosalie said.

"But you guys didn't get her anything," Mike said confused.

"Who said that we didn't get her anything? Besides she is so hard to shop for," Alice said in a teasingly way.

"Actually I have something to give," Edward said. He removed his right arm from around me and I felt him reach into his pocket and bring his arm back around. Slowly he showed me that he was holding a small jewelry box. There were some gasps as the small box was seen. I moved my hands over his arms and down to his hands. I took the box from his hands and slowly opened the box. I gasped as I ran my fingers over what was inside, which I did to keep up appearances. Inside the box was the necklace that I had thought I lost, but here it was. The dolphins were still facing each other with the topaz heart in the middle. The chain felt different though, smoother, more delicate but stronger at the same time. "I had a little something added," Edward said as he took the necklace out of the box. He set it my hand and flipped it over so that the back was up. A ran my finger along the back and could faintly feel something different. "Our names are on the back of the dolphins. Mine is on the right and yours on the left. The only thing that I have left to give her is forever," Edward said. The girls present let out awes at what he said while I heard some guys make gagging sounds.

"Isn't that sweet of you," I said then I kissed him on the cheek. This was probably the most thoughtful thing anyone had ever done for me.

"I mean it," he said as he tapped me on the nose. However something was on the end of his finger and was left on my nose. I brought my hand up to wipe it away and discovered that it was frosting; he put frosting on my nose! I heard some people laugh at what he did while I lightly scowled, but I kept a smile on my face.

"I know you do," I said as I leaned toward him as to kiss him on the lips. I felt him move forward as well. What he didn't know was that I had grabbed what was left of my cake and when I felt that he was close enough I smashed it in his face. Everyone laughed as what I did, as did I. I leaned forward though and placed a small kiss on his frosting covered lips as an apology of sorts.

"You know that you aren't supposed to do that until your wedding," Jessica said teasingly.

"Who said I had to wait to get married to do that," I said.

"As entertaining this is, Jacob and I still have our gift to give," Emmett said.

"Really, what is it," I asked eagerly.

"Come on its outside," Emmett said as he grabbed hold of my hand, now cleaned of frosting, and helped me to stand. I heard the other following us and murmuring about what it could be. We arrived outside and it was a bit cooler out now and the wind had picked up a little bit. It felt as if a storm was coming in. We were standing there and I was about to ask Emmett what my present was when I heard a motor approaching.

It wasn't any motor but a motorcycle motor. I heard the motor come to a stop in front of us and shut off. "Surprise," Jacob said. Edward came up beside me and showed me that Jacob was sitting on a motorcycle. Jacob for some reason was really blurry for some reason, like the focus wasn't on him, but I didn't ponder on that for long, I was too excited.

"I was talking with Bella earlier when we were setting up and Jacob overheard that you always wanted a motorcycle. He mentioned that he had a motorcycle so we came up with the idea of him giving you a ride since you can't drive it yourself," Emmett said. I made a sound of excitement and wrapped my arms around Emmett as much as I could, while thanking him profusely.

He led me over to the bike and helped me on behind Jake and put a helmet on my head. "Hang on tight," Jacob said as I got situated. He made sure my legs were in the proper place then turned the motor back on. I tightened my grip around him as I felt us begin to move. It was a wonderful experience; the wind through my hair (what was hanging out of the helmet), the feel of the power that was underneath me. I heard us going through the town and then felt Jake pour on the gas as we hit the freeway.

All too soon Jacob pulled back in the parking lot to Maria's. Jacob parked the bike and helped me to get off. "Thank you so much," I said as I hugged him in thanks.

"Anytime," he said. He lead me back over to where the others were standing, I still had a huge smile on my face from the ride. Edward took me into arms and he felt tense so I wrapped my arms around him in reassurance. We all headed back in and finished the party. Surprisingly enough we were there until closing time. After saying good bye to everyone and loading up my presents we got into the vehicles and headed home. We got home and Esme and Carlisle greeted us and asked us about our day. Since I ate at the party I didn't have anything for dinner. I was exhausted so after saying goodnight to everyone I went up to my room and went to bed.

The next morning Esme woke me up and served me breakfast in bed. Apparently over night we had a snow storm so there were a couple of inches of fresh snow on the ground. Carlisle asked me if there was anything that I wanted to do today. I asked if we could all go outside and play in the snow. And we did, after breakfast we all got changed and headed out to the clearing that we were in before. We went sledding, and had snow ball fights. I asked if I could snow board so Emmett carried me up to the top of the hill. When he was set up and ready to go he pulled me toward him and I stood on the board, my feet next to his on the inside; He held on as he slowly worked his way to the edge and we were soon going down the hill. It felt a little awkward the two of us on one board but it was fun none the less. After we did that a few times Edward put me on my own board and I went down a small hill on my own. It was quite hard and I kept falling into the snow but I had fun.

When it started snowing again we headed home. Esme made some soup for lunch and afterwards I opened the presents they gave me, which was mainly clothes, but they were expensive designer clothes. They even gave me a couple of ball gowns, even though I don't know when I would wear them. There were also several articles of jewelry. Since it was still snowing we decided to stay in. Edward put on music by my favorite groups and we had our own little party. It was a really enjoyable time and I was happy that I could spend it with my wonderful family.

(Sorry the party with the family is kind of short but I didn't expect for the other party to take so long, and I was short on ideas ^_^).

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	31. Chapter 31

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

HEY ALL ITS ME AGAIN, HERE WITH THE LATEST CHAPTER OF LOST AND FOUND WOOHOO. AND AS I SAID LAST CHAPTER I WILL BE TRYING TO UPDATE A LITTLE FASTER THAT WAY I CAN GET ALL OF THIS STORY POSTED BEFORE I GO BACK TO SCHOOL AND BOY AM I EVER LOOKING AT A BUSY SEMESTER. I'M LOOKING AT 15 CREDIT HOURS FOR MY BASIC CLASSES, 9 FOR A PROGRAM I'M ENROLLED IN AND AROUND THREE FOR SOME SPECIAL CLASSES I'M SIGNING UP FOR. LIKE I SAID A BUSY TIME. I'M GOING TO BE LUCKY TO EVEN FIND TIME TO WORK ON MY UNUSUAL SERIES.

ANYWAYS A BIG THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO REVIEWED:** CLEOEVER44 **(YAY A NEW REVIEWER), **TRIFORCEANDSHEIKAHARTS**, AND **CIAMI**! YAY THANK YOU, I HOPE THAT YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER. THANK YOU ALSO FOR **SHEELBYYY** FOR SIGNING OF FOR STORY ALERTS FOR THIS FIC. THANK YOU ALL!

AS I SAID BEFORE THIS CHAPTER HAS NOT BEEN EDITING IN ANY WAY BY CHIKE, ITS ALL MY EDITING WORK, HOPEFULLY I CAUGHT EVERYTHING. FEEL FREE TO POINT ANYTHING OUT THAT I MISSED OR SOMETHING THAT MAY HAVE BEEN CUT OUT IN TRANSFER.

I THINK THAT THIS IS MY LONGEST CHAPTER YET, ALMOST 10,000 WORDS, 17 PAGES YAY GO ME LOL.

**Chapter 31 Spring Break**

**Carrie's POV/Author POV**

It has been a month since my birthday and spring break is fast approaching. Not only does spring break signify that summer is around the corner and the end of school in sight, it also means that graduation is closer. Spring break is the last break that seniors receive before graduation. The next break would be for Memorial Day, but seniors are released the week before then. Everyone is talking about what schools they have been accepted to and where they are going to attend. My siblings are receiving letters from Harvard and Yale, all of the top schools and all that they applied to. I'm feeling left out because I have not applied anywhere, for I'm not sure how I would manage it with being blind. Edward encouraged me to apply somewhere but I refused. Before I went blind I wasn't sure what I was going to study. I have so many interests and things that I want to learn, that I don't know which I should do. What should I do now that I'm blind? I told Edward that I would find a job like telemarketing or something to support myself. He said that I would have the family there to support me, I just reminded him of my beliefs on that matter. He just told me that I was being stubborn. '_Being stubborn is what has kept me alive_,' I thought.

Edward, Alice and I were currently following Bella and Jacob to Port Angeles where we were going to check on a few things for the wedding. Bella and Jake had decided to wait until after Bella graduated to get married so to speak and after the baby is born they were going to have a proper wedding. While in town we were going to have measurements done for alterations on the dresses. I was to be the maid of honor, Alice, Leah and Jacob's two sisters were to be bride maids. Edward was a little nervous about us participating in the wedding, especially since the best man was Embry meaning that he would be my 'date' to the wedding. I think that he is just being jealous. We parked in one of the city parking lots and started walking to the dress shop. Alice was up talking with Bella who was walking hand in hand with Jacob, she was the one to pick out the dresses being a fashion diva that she is. Edward and I were a few feet behind them, an arm around each other.

We walked into the dress shop and the sales lady recognized us and left to the back room to get the dresses. She came back with an armload of garment bags. Bella and Alice took the ones that had our names on the tag and Bella went to change into her dress while we went to sit in the chairs next to the wall of mirrors. Bella came out and stood on the step pedestal. The sales lady had Bella try on different shoes and after much debate Bella finally decided on a pair of one inch white heels. After the matter of shoes was taken care of the other alterations were marked; taking in the bodice about an inch to make sure that it wouldn't come off and hemmed the bottom about five inches.

As the maid of honor it was my turn next. Usually all of the dresses for the maids are the same but each of us was going to wear dresses of different colors but of the same style. Mine was a brown color with gold stitching, off the shoulder thick straps; it was tight across the bodice and flared out at the waist, slightly puffy and came down to my knees. Alice's dress was black, Leah's was gold and Jacob's sisters were red and green. Alice gave me a hand to get my dress on and lead me to stand on the pedestal. I tried on several pairs of shoes but I didn't know which ones to get since I couldn't see how they looked. Alice decided on a brown pair that slipped on and had a strap around the ankle to help keep them on with two inch heels. Bella wanted me to the sandal like ones but I thought that the straps would start to hurt my feet after a while. The only alteration was that the bodice was taken in almost two inches. After Alice helped me to change back onto my regular clothes she put on her dress. As I expected no alterations needed to be done so she just got a pair of shoes like mine, but they didn't have the ankle strap and were black.

While we were waiting for Alice to come out from the changing room I started to feel as though someone was watching me, just a dark feeling that seemed to get worse the longer that I experienced it. It felt like daggers were piercing the back of my neck. It could have been someone outside since my back was to the window, but why would the air feel so omnimus. Why would it feel as though nails were being scraped across my scalp. I just brushed it off as someone looking into the window as they passed by and my imagination getting to me. That didn't stop me from tightening the grip I had on the arms of the chair I was sitting in. When Alice came out we put the shoes that we were going to get in the shoe pouch on the garment bag so they wouldn't get separated. After Bella put some more money down on the dresses we left and walked to the jewelry store to choose what would go with our dresses. I felt something that was familiar to me behind us but I thought that it was my imagination. What would be familiar to me that had me feeling the way that I do? My mind was coming up with a blank.

We entered the store and headed over to the bridal jewelry. We all, actually just the girls and I, looked in the display cases; well they were described to me, the various necklaces that were there. Bella started to go on about which necklaces would look good with which dress. "Why don't we all get something that is similar? That is usually what is done in order to connect the bride with her maids. The bride of course will have the more extravagant of the jewelry while the maids of a more simplistic version of it," I said. I only knew this because Rosalie talked with me about weddings, since I didn't know anything about them when Bella sprung this huge responsibility on me.

"But what would we get," Bella asked as she moved to stand beside me.

"Well with the various colors you will want to get something neutral. How about something silver with diamonds," I suggested. Obviously some of Alice's designer accessory ways have been rubbing off on me.

"That could work," Alice said in her normal chipper way and I could hear some pride in her voice. I guess that she is happy with the progress I have made with her 'lessons'. Each of them grabbed one of my hands and we walked over to the display that had what we were looking for. The sales person brought out some for us to look at, and they were placed in my hand so that I could feel them to get an idea of what they felt like. We narrowed down the decision and tried them on to make a final decision. When Edward help me to get mine on I felt a chill run down my spine and my hair stand on end. I let out a gasp as I felt something settle in the pit of my stomach. It felt similar to being punched, but more of an internal sharp twist. It was the only thing that I could think of to describe it as I slowly let out a breath to release the tension.

"What's wrong Carrie," Edward said as he placed his hands on my shoulders, with a slighting kneading of the muscles there.

"I'm fine. I just felt as though I was going to sneeze," I lied. I made sure that I was thinking that so he wouldn't get suspicious and I blocked him a bit also. I could feel him looking at me, most likely in suspicion or uncertainty, so I patted his hands in reassurance. "So what do you gals think?" I asked a little louder pointing toward my throat.

"Perfect," Alice and Bella said together. Alice got the same as me, a silver chain with a few diamond pendants hanging straight down. Alice chose a similar necklace for Bella, but it was broader, completely diamond studded and had a crystal flower shaped pendant hanging from it. When Bella put the first payment on the jewlry she ordered more necklaces like mine for the rest of the brides maids. We left the store, Bella and Jacob in front of us holding hands. I was holding Edward's hand in my left and Alice had her arm hooked with my right arm. Again as we walked to the flower shop to make the final decision for the bouquets and arrangements I had the feeling that someone was glaring at me and following me. It was starting to scare me a bit, for I didn't know why I was feeling it. I turned to look over my shoulder though I couldn't see anything. Edward noticed what I did he asked, "What is wrong?"

I tightened my grip on his hand and shook my head. "It is nothing," I said dismissively, blinking and closing my eyes a few times as I tried to mentally shake this new paranoia and confusion off.

"You're not acting like its nothing," Alice said concerned as she moved to hold my hand instead of my arm.

"Fine," I said knowing that they were not going to let the issue drop. "I have this weird feeling." I paused to sort through my confusion so that I could express what it was that was bothering me. "I feel as though someone is watching me, following me and it is bothering me a bit," I said with a small shake of my head to express that I thought that it wasn't a big deal. After a small moment Edward released my hand and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to his side. It didn't escape my notice that the feeling that I had increased a bit and my gut tightened in fear. Alice let go of my hand and I heard her slow her steps until she was behind us, almost directly behind me but off to the side a bit.

We walked down the street and entered the flower shop. I heard an absence of a pair of heels meaning Alice didn't come in with us; Edward kept his hold on me. Bella was left on her own to decide what flowers she wanted because Edward didn't want to release me from the protective embrace that he was holding me in. When Bella finished Edward said that he would be taking me home now. Bella said 'alright', I could here the questioning tone she had over Edwards actions, but she came closer and gave me a hug saying that she'll see me at school. Edward led me out the door, a tight grip around me and I heard Alice take her previous position behind us as we walked to the vehicle. Edward helped me into my seat and buckled me in. I sat there still, unmoving though it felt like I was lightly shaking, only breathing slightly heavier from the quick pace we used to get back to the car. I heard Edward get in then Alice as he started the car and we pulled out of the parking lot. The feeling that I had decreased as we sped away from town, it was as though the threat was left behind us. When it was completely gone I let out a sigh of relief. I jumped as Edward grabbed my hand and held it. I felt Alice lightly place her hand on my shoulder. I was so exhausted from the tension that I barely noticed that I drifted off to sleep.

Edward's POV

I don't know what Bella was thinking making Carrie her maid of honor, they have only recently started getting along. I can't help the thought in the back of my mind that the reason Bella is doing this is because she feels sorry for Carrie and is trying to apologize for her earlier actions. I have begged with Bella to make Angela her maid of honor but she wouldn't hear it. So I was currently following her and the mutt to Port Angeles to make the finishing touches on the wedding plans. Alice is tagging along because she enjoys this kind of thing.

We walked to the dress shop so the final alterations for the dresses can be made. I sit along the wall a few chairs down from Black while the girls tried on their dresses. Bella's dress was the traditional plain white, strapless with a full rumbled skirt. She had pulled her hair up into a high ponytail, bangs framing her face, and was now placing the tiara and veil on her head. She looked beautiful; Jacob had a huge smile on his face as he looked her over and I had to try and block what Jacob was thinking so I wouldn't be disgusted. There was also a small pang in my chest where my heart was when I thought that Bella could have been mine and that she could be doing all of this and walking down the aisle to me instead of him. But when Carrie came out a smile came to my face. The dark brown of her dress made her pale, scarred skin glow and really brought out the color of her hair. It would have brought out the color of her eyes, made them twinkle and shine as well if the didn't have the milky look to them as they do now due to the damage done to them. It may be true that I don't have Bella anymore, but I have Carrie now and she is everything that I could ask for. She made not be made for me like I described Bella to be, but she is still perfect and she doesn't even try. I can't even describe it.

While we were waiting for Alice I noticed from the corner of my eye that Carrie's form seemed to stiffen. I turned toward her and saw that her eyes were open a little wider then usual. She was slightly hunched over, her brow creased and her hands wrapped tightly around the arms of her chair. This concerned me because I couldn't see anything wrong with her. The fog was once again starting to surround her mind. I watched as she shook off whatever was bothering her, again looking at her carefully but nothing seemed to be wrong. Carrie slowly got up to her feet and she and the other girls put their shoes with the dresses and we left to the jewelry store. I watched Carrie as we walked and her brow wrinkled more in confusion. I tried to read what she was thinking but she was blocking me, which made me a little on edge. '_What would she be blocking from me?_'

As we walked to the jewelry store I kept an eye on her. It didn't escape my notice that she moved closer to me and tightened her grip on my hand. This had me starting to worry a bit, she was acting like she was scared or something. I turned to face ahead as I sorted through what I could hear my head, listening to the voices, seeing what they saw. I was slightly frustrated when I came up with nothing that could be the reason for her distress, as we entered the jewelry store. I reluctantly released my grip on her so that she could do what she needed to do.

"Why don't we all get something that is similar? That is usually what is done in order to connect the bride with her maids. The bride of course will have the more extravagant of the jewelry while the maids of a more simplistic version of it," Carrie said in what I could tell was slight forced to be on the chipper side. I seemed to be the only one that noticed it.

"But what would we get," Bella asked as she moved to stand beside her.

"Well with the various colors you will want to get something neutral. How about something silver with diamonds," Carrie suggested.

"That could work," Alice said with her telltale grin on her face. Each of them grabbed a hand and walked over to the display. The sales person brought out some for them to look at, and they were placed in Carrie's hand so that I could feel them to get an idea of what they felt like. Jacob and I stood behind them a few feet giving them plenty of room to do what they need but were close enough in case they needed us. I stepped forward to help Carrie get a necklace on when she suddenly stiffened up with a sharp intake of breath. I looked closely and could see goose bumps appear on her skin and she let out a gasp, smaller than before almost as if she was trying to catch her breath after an unexpected blow.

"What's wrong Carrie," I asked concerned even more as I placed my hands on her shoulders to calm her down, loosen her up and let her know that I was there with her.

"I'm fine. I just felt as though I was going to sneeze," she said as if she was trying to convince herself. I had a feeling that she wasn't telling the truth, just saying the first thing that came to her mind, so I tried to hear what she was thinking only to hear thoughts about how it felt like she was going to sneeze. She patted my hands with her slightly shaking and cooler than normal ones then said, "So what do you gals think," as she pointed to the necklace

"Perfect," Alice and Bella said together. Bella chose a similar one like discussed and went to the sales clerk and made a payment and placed an order. We left the store, Bella and Jacob in front of us holding hands. I was holding Carrie's hand while Alice had a grip on her other arm. As we were walking along Carrie's brow was again knitted together, her form stiffens and she turned as if to look over her shoulder. I wasn't the only one to notice her actions this time, Alice did as well.

"What is wrong," I asked expressing concern at her actions again.

She tightened her grip on my hand and shook her head and said, "It is nothing." Once again it sounded like she was trying to convince herself that what she said was true.

"You're not acting like its nothing," Alice said concerned as well.

"Fine, I have this weird feeling. I feel as though someone is watching me, following me and it is bothering me a bit," she said reluctantly. Alice and I shared a look and she looked down at Carrie then back at me again. I released her hand and wrapped my arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to my side in reassurance, comfort and to offer some sort of protection. I noticed that she seemed to stiffen as though she had been slapped. This had me worried for I wasn't sure what was causing her to act like this. I looked over at Alice and we shared another look. She nodded and let go of Carrie's hand and took a position behind us as if to block Carrie from view.

We walked down the street and entered the flower shop. Alice stayed outside to keep an eye out for anything that could cause Carrie to act like the way that she was. Bella and Jacob looked at us in question when they saw the way that I was holding Carrie and because Alice stood tense outside of the door, slowly looking around. I shook my head at them as I stood with Carrie in front of me with my arms around her so that I blocked her from the window which my back was to. Bella looked between us before she shrugged and turned toward the counter to take care of business while Jacob and I shared a look after he looked back and forth between me and Alice in question, his form a little tense as well, his questions running through my mind. I just gave him a small shake of my head as I glanced down at Carrie whom was leaning back into me, with a tight grip on my arms, I'm not even sure she realized what she was doing, before I gave him a look that meant 'not now'. He looked Carrie over as well and understood my message for he nodded in return and went to stand next to Bella with his hand placed on the small of her back. When Bella finished I said that I would be taking Carrie home now. Bella said 'alright', her head tilted in curiosity her face full of confusion and gave Carrie a hug saying that she'll see us at school. I lead the way out the door and passed Alice who took her previous position behind us as we walked to the vehicle. I helped Carrie into my seat and buckled her in. I noticed that she was slightly shaking. I got in while Alice stood in front of the door, looking around, then she got in the back. When we were a few miles from town I heard Carrie let out a sigh and her body lost the tenseness that it had. I took hold of her hand and it didn't escape my notice that she flinched at the contact. Alice gently placed a hand on her shoulder so as to not startle her. I watched out of the corner of my eye as she slowly fell asleep as though she was exhausted. Alice and I shared a look and drove the rest of the way home in silence. Alice had a small vision but that was all that happened.

I pulled into the garage when we got home. Alice headed to the door while I got Carrie out of the car, I didn't even bother to wake her up. Alice held the door open for me and I walked through the thresh hold heading to the living room to get to the stairs. Unfortunately the rest of the family was in there and when they saw me holding Carrie they were looking at me in confusion, their minds starting to buzz with questions. I just ignored them and headed up to Carrie's room where I placed her on the bed. I heard footsteps and I turned to see Esme walk in. She headed over to the dresser and pulled out some sleeping clothes. Knowing what she was going to do I left the room and headed to the living room and sat in a chair. We were silent as we waited for Esme to come back down. When she did she sat on the arm of the recliner that Carlisle was seated in. "Now what happened," Carlisle asked.

"We're not really sure," Alice said quietly.

"What do you mean that you're not sure," Rosalie asked in a snappy way, her anger getting apparent in her confusion.

"Just that," I said shortly. My confusion, added with everyone else's was bringing out my temper, a rare thing.

"Why don't you explain what happened during your outing," Carlisle said his tone full of patience.

"Well," I began getting my thoughts together, "everything was fine. We stopped by the dress store first and everything was fine. While we were waiting for Alice to come back out I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Carrie seemed to stiffen in her seat. I could tell through the sunglasses that her eyes were wide open. I turned my full attention toward her but she shook off whatever was bothering her. I watched her for a little bit but she seemed alright. We went to the jewelry store next. I watched Carrie out of the corner of my eye and noticed that her brows were drawn together almost as if she was confused about something. We entered the jewelry store and everything was fine until I put a necklace on her to try on. She suddenly stiffened up and goose bumps broke out across her skin, she let out a gasp almost as if she had received a blow. When I asked her what was wrong she just said that she thought that she was going to sneeze. I tried to listen into her thoughts and that is what I heard but there also appeared to be a block as well, but I just let it go."

"We left that store and headed to the flower shop. Again I watched her and her face had a look of confusion and worry. She turned around as if to look over her shoulder. I asked her what was wrong and she reluctantly told us that she felt as if she was being watched, stared at and followed. I moved so that I was holding her close to my side and Alice moved so that she was slightly behind us. At the flower shop she stayed outside to have a look around while I stayed close to her, putting myself between her and the window."

"What did you notice Alice," Carlisle asked. The rest of the family was sitting silently, paying close attention to what we were saying.

"I didn't see anything," she said. "I saw a truck that looked vaguely familiar, but I'm not sure where I've seen it from before. It certainly isn't from around here, it had out of state plates," We all thought about how a truck could be connected to Carrie, but we couldn't place it either.

"Did you see anyone in it," Jasper asked trying to put some pieces together.

Alice shook her head no. "The windows were so dirty and it was so full of stuff that it was hard to tell where it ended and a person began if there was one in it."

"What about the vision you had in the car," I asked remember what happened in the car.

She again shook her head in the negative. "It was too blurry to make anything out," she said.

"Is there anything else," Carlisle asked still curious about the days events.

"No," I said. "We left quickly and Carrie didn't relax until we were a distance from town. She was jumpy at contact, like she used to be and she just fell asleep on the way here."

"It is probably due to emotional stress that she experienced and perhaps some adrenaline leaving her system," Jasper said after analyzing all that had been said. Carlisle nodded his head, agreeing with the assessment.

"We better keep an eye on her and our surroundings especially if she starts acting like she did in town," Carlisle said. "It could be nothing, but you never know." We all nodded that we would and headed in separate ways. Carlisle went to his study, Esme went to the kitchen to get started on dinner with Rosalie's help. Emmett and Jasper went back their video game with Alice watching them. I headed up to Carrie's room and sat in a chair next to her bed, watching as she slept somewhat fitfully.

Esme came up a couple of hours later and told me to get Carrie up for dinner would be ready in half an hour. I sat on the edge of bed and gently shook her shoulder. Carrie woke with a start and I reassured her that everything was fine and that supper was almost ready. I sat there next to her on the bed, rubbing her back, to calm her down and reassure her as she got her bearings and woke up more. She slowly got out of bed and I helped her down to the living room where we cuddled in a recliner. Her legs were draped over my lap and she was curled against my chest, my chin on her head.

True to her word Esme called us into the dining room about half an hour later. I help Carrie to her feet and walked with her to the dining room. I pulled her chair out for her and pushed it back in when she sat down, then took my place across from her.

"I'm guessing Edward and Alice told you what had occurred in town," Carrie said when we had all taken our seats.

"They did, is there anything you like to add," Carlisle asked softly so as to not to give Carrie the impression that he was mad at her, which he wasn't.

She let out a sigh before she said anything. "If there was anyone there, I felt as if knew them somehow. I could tell that they didn't like me. It felt as though I was being stabbed or something," she said quietly as she softly shook from the memory.

"We didn't notice anyone or anything peculiar," I said sharing a look with my family. I didn't want her to know about the truck. It could be nothing and I don't want her to get worked up over it.

"So how are you feeling Carrie," Esme asked like the concerned mother that she is.

"I'm fine, I'll probably be back to one hundred percent after dinner and a hot shower," she said with a grin. With that said she dug into the meatloaf that Esme had made. True to her word after dinner she took a hot shower then we all hung out in the living room, doing various things. A few hours Carrie said that she was going to bed. I walked with her up to her room and when she lied down I went to my room to change in to some sleep wear. I came back and crawled in next to her, pulling her to my chest.

The next day, Sunday, was spent mainly tutoring Carrie more in math and helping her with the book that she was supposed to read for English. We started off with English and took a break for lunch. We even went out and messed around in the snow for a little while. After we warmed back up she got to work with math which we worked on until dinner time. After dinner we relaxed, Carrie took a shower then went to bed.

Carrie's POV/Author POV

It was the last week of school before spring break and what a busy week that it is going to be. In all my classes were are going to be spending at least two days this week, most likely Thursday and Friday, taking the semester mid terms. To top it off I have one report, two projects, and a lab to hand in this week. Plus I have to discuss with my teachers how I'm going to be taking my tests. Mainly if I am going to take them during class with the teacher or a teacher aide reading me the questions, somewhere away from everyone else, or to take them after school in the class room. It is going to be very confusing and troublesome.

You can indeed tell that spring is around the corner. The weather has been warming up and all the snow that has fallen is beginning to melt. Of course it froze on the roads during the night when the temperatures dropped; making the roads hazardous, but it was nice to feel warm air again. After a breakfast of pancakes and sausage Emmett actually came with me up to my room to pick out an outfit for me to wear and laid them out so that I could put them on without help. (He said that it was unfair that only the girls did something like that. I just gave him a weird look.)He left the room so that I could change. The outfit was simple; blue jeans, a white turtle neck, black t-shirt that said 'I'm out of my mind, please leave a message', and a dark blue zip up sweater that had squiggly lines all over it. He likes to make me look some what ridiculous hence the sweater.

I headed down to the living room to put on my shoes. When we got ready to leave Edward gave me a lighter jacket to wear; it was the one he gave me to wear before that we tend to share. Edward, Alice, Rosalie, Jasper and I all got into the Volvo while Emmett took his Jeep. No one felt like riding in that today for it was still open so to speak. We pulled out of the garage and headed to school, going a little slower due to the ice. We pulled into the parking lot and parked in our usual places. We got out and stood next to the wall and waited and watched Emmett as he pulled a tarp over his jeep. In my case it was more like I listened as he struggled with it. We just shook our heads and laughed at him. The wind picked up and had a bite to it. Emmett stood in front of me to block the wind after he finished covering his vehicle. I smiled and thanked him then we continued to stand in silence until the bell rang.

Edward walked with me to my locker and we stopped at his on our way to my class. We walked hand in hand to my English class, and he gave me kiss as we came to the door then he left. I walked into the class room and sat at my desk then took things out that I might need for class. I took a deep breath to prepare myself for what I know is going to be a busy week and let it out in a sigh as the final morning bell rang, signaling the start of the school day and week. The teacher explained that for the next three days we will be working on a group test. She then divided us up into group of fours and handed out the tests. I was partnered with Angela, Eric and Mike who helped me by reading the passages, questions and answers out loud for me and helped me to write in the correct places on the answer sheet. After class the teacher asked if I could come in during lunch on Thursday and Friday so I could take the literary term tests that she made just for me. Instead of it being matching like everyone else's mine would have the word and four choices of definition, which she would read out loud for me. I waited as she wrote me a pass for those two days and she wrote me a pass for my second period class since the bell had already rung. I packed up my things, grabbed my staff and walked out the door that the teacher guided me to.

The bells on my staff rang hauntingly in the empty halls as I walked through counting my steps and remembering how many to take and when to turn. I felt around for the door handle after I felt the brail next to the door to make sure that I had the correct one. I was a little worried when I walked in and it was silent, but I was relieved when Ms. Simon came up to me and said that they were taking a test. She was kind enough to allow me to work with Emmett in the back corner as we took our test. I took us a little bit longer than the class period, since I had to write it myself. The teachers gave us passes for our next class and we left.

Emmett walked with me to my next class and knocked on the door. When the teacher came to the door Emmett handed him my pass and explained why we were late. The teacher said that that was fine and resigned Emmett's pass so he wouldn't get into trouble for taking so long. In physics we were finishing up our labs and the teacher asked if I could come in during lunch Thursday and Friday to take the exams. I told him that I already planned to take my English exam then. So we arranged for me to come in Wednesday during lunch then after school to take the exams. He said Rosalie could help me since I was given a different test than everyone else so Rosalie wouldn't have an unfair advantage. Rosalie and I had already finished our labs so we turned them in and spent the rest of class reading at our desk. Before we left the teacher gave us pass for Wednesday and we left. Edward was there waiting by the door as usual.

"Miss me," I asked jokingly.

"Like a sight for sore eyes," he said as he placed a kiss on my temple and put his arm around my shoulders. He let out a small laugh and said 'see you later' to Rosalie. We walked into our class room, took our seats and talked with Bella until the teacher told us to settle down. The teacher explained that today and tomorrow we will be working on a review, on Wednesday we will go over it and on Thursday and Friday we will be taking a test. The teacher came up to me when we got started and explained that I will be taking my tests like normal with the teacher's aide. Edward and I worked on the review together and he was quizzing me every step of the way.

When the bell rang we packed up our stuff, dropped it off at our lockers and walked to lunch. Since I am normally with one of them I have started to keep my staff strapped to my bag in case I do need it. I held Edward's hand until we came to our table. I didn't hear Emmett so be must have been gone getting me lunch. Sure enough when he came back he set down a tray in front of me that had pizza and fries and root beer; very healthy (I'm using sarcasm if you didn't notice.) "Got enough junk Emmett," Edward said, "she needs healthy food."

"Relax _Esme_, we all have fruit and Rosie got a salad so Carrie has 'healthy food," Emmett said.

"Oh by the way I'll be missing lunch on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, for I'll be taking tests then," I said as I was reminded about the agreements I made with the teachers.

"Unacceptable," Edward said immediately. "You can't miss lunch. Just tell your teachers that you will take the tests after school and not miss lunch."

"But Eddie I still have to schedule times to take my math tests, which might be after school. Either way I am going to miss lunch those two days to take a test," I said. I could tell that he wasn't happy about it but he knew that I was right. I just gave him a pat on the knee and ate my lunch. When Alice and I got to math class I was proven right when the teacher asked if I could come in after school Thursday and Friday to take the tests. He said that Alice could help me since she knew how to explain it all to me. Again I will be given a different test so I wouldn't have an unfair advantage and we will be held to the honor code not to cheat.

When we got home that night Edward immediately told Esme that I would be skipping lunch. She wasn't very happy about it but she understood that it was important that I took my test. She said that she would have a snack ready for me when I got home. I spent my time studying with the others even though they knew all of this by heart already. Rosalie and Alice spent some extra time going over their respective classes with me to be prepared for the test. Tuesday was the last less hectic day that week. I was currently walking out to the car with Edward when I had the same feeling that I had when I was in town during the weekend. I felt like I was being watched again and I had the slight chills. I just brushed it off because there are people that still stare at us, Edward and the others mainly, so that could account for the first feeling. The second could be because I got some mud in my hair when I tripped when we were outside for gym and I took a shower and a chill wind was blowing so that could have been what caused the chill. I thought that it was stupid for us to be out there in the first place but the substitute teacher wanted us out there.

Wednesday came and it went on the same as usual. During lunch I met up with Rosalie at my locker since I didn't need any of my books I was going to drop them off. I just kept my calculator, pencils and pens with a sharpener and big eraser. We walked to the class and waited for the teacher to come back from getting his lunch. He handed me the test and watched as Rosalie helped me take it to make sure that we didn't cheat. With the calculations I punched in the numbers and said out loud what I was computing, Rosalie would press the correct button (sin, cos, tan, x, / …) and read out the answer. She would write out what I said but she helped me to write the answers. When there were diagrams she would 'draw' them in the palm of my hand with her finger so I could picture what she was talking about.

(By helping to write I mean that Carrie would hold the pencil and the other would hold her wrist to guide the hand to make sure everything is in the right place and that she wrote in a straight line.)

The rest of the day went on as usual and after school Rosalie and I went back to the class to take the second half of the test. Afterwards we rode home in her car, the others left in Edward's Volvo. He offered to stay and wait for us to get done, but I told him that I didn't know how long it would take. He just replied that he had all the time in the world. I told him that it was really sweet, I stood on my tip toes to kiss him on the cheek and gave him a little shove toward Jasper who pulled him away toward the car. Rosalie told me that he was looking at me with a pout on his face the entire time.

On Thursday when in the class where I was going to be taking the test later or had already taken the test I was reading a book that Angela gave me for my birthday. She was delighted when she saw that I was reading something that I got her. In Latin Emmett and I worked together on our test. In Biology I did my test with the aide. Afterwards Edward walked with me to my English class and wished me luck while he took my stuff to put them up for me. The teacher was waiting by my desk and after I sat down and got a pencil out she read me the test and I would tell her the answer that I wanted. I know I did horrible on that test, there were a lot of words on that test and a lot of them sounded the same and most of the ones that sounded the same had very similar definitions. Yep, definitely failed that one, Esme isn't going to be real happy when she finds out not that she will show it of course, she will just say that I will have to work more on it.

After that Alice was at the door waiting for me with my stuff and we headed to math where I again read my book. In gym we were told that we were to run a mile but I had to sit out and was given a time of fifteen minutes. That's how long it takes me to run a mile anyways so I wasn't complaining. After gym Alice and I went back to math class where the teacher had us go to the empty teacher's computer room to take the test since he had a class of underclassmen to teach. When school was let out we drove home in Rosalie's car that was left behind for us. Again I had that weird feeling that I have been having as we left but I didn't think anything of it.

Friday went the same way as Thursday and finally it was over, it was officially the start of spring break. The only down side is that the weatherman was calling for sunshine so that meant that we couldn't go out anywhere together until night, but it was still chilly then and the only thing open was the movie theater which none of us go to. That night Esme made a special dinner to celebrate the end of the testing. That only leaves the finals our final week of school and we will be done.

Time skip a few days

As predicted it has been nothing but sunshine for the past five days. Too bad none of us could really go out and enjoy it, even if there was no one around. We were all currently in the living room that was illuminated by sunlight. Carlisle had called off work saying that we were going camping for the week and he was currently helping Esme and Alice put a photo album together. Emmett was playing a video game by himself, Jasper was playing chess against himself and Rosalie was looking through the latest fashion magazines.

Meanwhile Edward and I were laying on a sofa together, enjoying the feel of the sunshine as it came down on us. Well it was more like he was laying down on his back and I was lying on top of him, off to the side with my back to the back of the couch and our arms around each other. All was quiet except for the video game and the album workers quietly discussing things.

Suddenly Alice made a quiet gasped we all stopped what we were doing and waited. "Bella is going to be here after a while," Alice said as she went back to what we were doing. I felt Edward shrug so I knew that he had no idea for why Bella would be coming for a visit. As Alice had said about an hour later the bell rang and Alice went to answer it. Edward helped me to sit up and we sat next to each other so as to not make Bella feel too uncomfortable. She knows that we are together but we don't want to make anything too awkward. Alice led Bella into the living room and I could hear her gasp as she saw that the vampires were shimmering lightly from all of the sunlight bouncing around from the windows. Esme and Carlisle got up and greeted her while the others nodded in greeting.

"So what can we do for you Bella," Esme asked after giving her a hug and directing her to take a seat on the sofa.

"I was wondering if Carrie would like to come with me real quick to Port Angeles. I got a call that the dresses were ready and I figured that her and me could go and pick them up as well as try them on to see if everything is okay," Bella said in question.

"Why now," Edward asked as he tightened his grip around my shoulders. He must have remembered what happened last time we went out.

"Charlie told me that they plan on closing the street that the store is on tomorrow to do some work and he is not sure how long it will be closed for. My mother and Phil sent some money also to pay the dresses off and to make another payment on the jewelry," Bella said.

"One of us will go with you, we just have to make sure to cover up and stay in the shadows," Edward said in a no nonsense tone.

"No you're not; I'm not going to let you take that chance. Besides it won't take that long to go, get the dresses and come back. The longest part is going to be the drive," I said trying to convince him that it was alright.

"Is at least the wolf going to be with you," Edward asked Bella.

"No," she replied, "he and the pack have to make their rounds today."

I could tell that Edward was about to protest so I covered his lips with mine. I pulled away before he could respond. "I will be fine Eddie, I promise." I felt him bring his hands up to cradle my face and he laid his forehead against mine.

"Just be careful," he said with a sigh as he gave in.

"I will, I promise," I said as a kissed him lightly on the lips. I stepped away from him and walked to the door with Bella. She handed me my coat and I grabbed my staff from next to the door. She helped me to the truck, got in then headed on our way. During the drive Bella and I talked and got caught up on things at La Push and at the manor and her pregnancy. Bella got really excited when she told me that she might start showing soon because her abdomen feels a little harder and stiff. She told me that she doesn't know the gender yet and she wants it to be a surprise and how Jacob is already making a crib for the baby. I told her that I was happy for her and wished her and the baby well. She asked if I wanted any kids and I told her that I didn't know yet. Then she asked about whether or not Edward and I were going to tie the knot. I confided in her that I was nervous about that because I never imagined that I would ever fall in love with someone and them with me. I also told her how Edward deserves to find a nice vampire woman and settle down with her. I said how I would be happy for him because I don't want him to be sad when I die for I am only mortal. We were quiet the rest of the way to Port Angeles.

As Bella had said there were construction signs everywhere signifying that there was going to be work going on soon. Bella parked in the city parking lot and helped me out of the truck. My hearing was still off from the engine and my ears were ringing. Bella had a hold of my left arm and I was feeling around with my staff to try and avoid obstacles. Bella would tell me either to step up down or go left or right to help guide me. Due to all the stuff out the streets was deserted which made me a little nervous. I asked Bella about it and she said that a lot of stores have closed down for the day since business is slow with everything going on.

We arrived at the store and the sales lady said that we were lucky because she was just about to close up shop. She went back and brought out all of the dresses. Bella put her dress on along with the shoes and everything checked out with her dress and she helped me get my dress on. Of course she had to check out my scars while she was helping me, I could feel her eyes lingering on me and I felt her fingers trace a few of them. Everything checked out with my dress so I changed out of it and held on to all of the dresses while she finished paying for them. We each carried half of the dresses that we had to the truck. Once we put the dresses up we decided to go to the jewelry store to see if it was still open so Bella could make another payment.

We tried to hurry because we noticed when we came out of the dress shop that a huge storm was blowing in. We were confused about this for the weatherman didn't say anything about a storm coming in, and it looked to be a nasty one. As we were walking down the street the wind picked up and the sky got darker, I couldn't feel the sun against my skin and the air smelled of rain. What made it scarier was that the streets were still deserted so it was really quiet, too quiet. The jewelry store was closed as well so we turned around and headed back to the truck. Bella had a tight grip on my right arm, above and below the elbow.

As we walked by an alleyway I felt someone grab on to the left shoulder of my jacket and pull me forcefully in that direction. Bella, since she was holding on to my arm was pulled with me. I put my arm out in front of me and landed on my side and somewhat on my front. Thankfully Bella landed on top of me so I cushioned her fall; don't want anything to happen to the baby.

"Shut up and don't say a word," I heard a male voice say from behind us. Bella rolled off of me and I moved so that I faced the voice. I heard a gasp from Bella as I guess the guy came closer to us if the slight stomping I heard was any clue. My staff was then kicked out of my reach and the person then said, "Get up and don't try anything funny." I slowly got up to my knees then shakily stood up. I heard Bella do the same thing to my left. I felt her lightly grab on to my sleeve so I pulled her to stand behind me, to block her from view and harm.

"You think you are so smart, so cleaver don't you," the voice said in a sneer.

"What do you mean," Bella said confused and scared.

"Shut up, I was talking to the bitch," the voice yelled with a small slur.

It dawned on me then that I knew this voice, but where have I heard it from. Then images started flashing in my head. A truck with a plow, hot water coming toward my face, a whip slashing across my skin, someone grabbing my bruising hips and pulling me back. A gasp escaped my throat as it dawned on me who this person was. "Howard," I said in a dead voice as the fear and pain came back to me.

"The bitch remembers her master," Howard said with a cruel laugh.

"Carrie, what is he talking about," Bella asked with a shaky voice.

"You haven't told her," Howard asked in fake disbelief, but he continued to laugh in a crazy way clearly amused at our predicaments.

I could tell that Bella was about to say something but I beat her to it. "He is my cousin, my step-brother, one of my tormentors," I said with as much venom as I could muster. Bella let out a gasp and I felt and heard her take a step back away from me as she realized what I meant. I heard thunder begin to roll and felt as the wind picked up in intensity. The air felt charged and slightly heavy.

"Ah, I see that you have told her about me," Howard said in a prideful boast. I heard heavy footsteps coming closer and felt Bella pull me back by my coat tail. I had no choice but to follow. The footsteps became a little faster and Bella pulled me harder, I almost tripped due to how hard she pulled. "Now where do you think you are going," Howard said and I felt something that was cold, hard and sort of round in shape pressed hard to the middle of my forehead. I heard Bella gasp in fear and step away from us again. "I'm here to punish you for what you have done. My family is in jail because of you, because of the lies you have told. You have sinned and I am here to make sure you pay for your disobedience," he said finishing in a yell and I heard something click and felt the something move. "Do you have anything to say?"

"Yeah," I said, "burn in hell."

"You first," he said as he started to pull the trigger. I heard a yell and something knocked me down and to the side and I heard a gun go off. Bella had tried to knock the gun away from me before the sawed off shot gun was fired. I heard some scuffle before I heard Howard yell "Bitch" and the sound of someone getting smacked and someone landing among trash cans. The feminine cry I heard let me know that it was Bella who had been knocked into the trash cans.

"Bella," I cried as I tried to get up from the ground.

"Not so fast. You are not getting away this time," he said as I heard another shot being fired.


	32. Chapter 32

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO **CIAMI **AND **TRIFORCANDSHEIKAHARTS** FOR REVIEWING AND **JULIEST ET TUBE **AND **TWILIGHTFAN12356** FOR ADDING THIS STORY TO THEIR FAVORITES LIST. SORRY IF I HAVE ANYONES NAME WRONG CAN'T READ MY OWN WRITING LOL. THIS MEANS SO MUCH TO ME AND WHAT KEEPS ME WRITING AND POSTING. AS I SAID BEFORE I WILL TRY TO UPDATE THIS A LITTLE FASTER SO I CAN GET THE REST OF THIS UP BEFORE I GO OFF TO SCHOOL. THERE ARE ROUGHLY FIVE CHAPTERS LEFT. I WILL PROBABLY HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL I HAVE TIME IF I WANT TO POST AND EXTRA EPILOGUE, THINKING OF A LEMON LOL. XP. AND I'M STILL WORKING ON THE DRAWINGS, THEY ARE JUST COMING ALONG SLOWLY LIKE MY NEW STORY.

**Ch 32 The Decision**

Edward's POV

I was standing on the front porch watching as Bella and Carrie drove off. I was really nervous about letting Carrie go out with none of us going with her; it felt like I was breaking my promise to protect her. I still remember the way that she was the last time we went to Port Angeles. Even though the only thing that we found that was suspicious was a truck not from around here I still couldn't shake the feeling that I had. It was the same type of worry that I felt when we had to leave Carrie alone during winter break and we all know how that one turned out.

I heard someone come up beside me and I turned to my right to see Carlisle also watching as the truck disappeared. He turned to me and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry; I'm sure she will be fine. It is just a quick trip, they will be in and out then on their way back here," he said.

"But we know all too well that things can change in an instant," I said. Carlisle and I just stared at each other for a moment before he lightly squeezed my shoulder and went back into the house. I stood on the porch for a little while longer before I also went back into the house. I lay down on the sofa that Carrie and I were occupying just a short while ago to settle down and wait.

It has been an hour and a half since they left. Knowing the distance, the way Bella drives, and her truck itself they should be arriving at town any minute. The time I have spent waiting has been completely miserable. At first I was just lying on the sofa then I sat up with my elbows on my knees, running my fingers through my hair in aggravation as well as bouncing my leg in impatience. I would then get up and start pacing around the living room. I would hear the others displeasure at my actions so I returned to my previous position on the sofa, just to get up and start pacing again. After a few times of doing this when I got up Rosalie also got up and forced me out of the room and said, "If you are going to pace to it out of my sight, you are giving me a headache."

The bad feeling that I had only intensified when I noticed clouds in the distance, in the direction of Port Angeles; It looked as if a pretty nasty storm was rolling in even though there had been no mention of rain or anything. I returned to the living room and turned on the TV that Emmett was no longer using for his video games and put it on the weather channel. "Well this is certainly surprising folks," the weatherman said. "I know that I promised sunshine for the week but this storm has seemed to apparently pop up out of the nowhere," he said as he motioned on the map of the storm system that was coming toward us. "It is a bit unusual to see storms pop up like this during this time of year but not completely unlikely. The storm seems to be a thunderstorm that is quickly building in intensity. It is currently showing a possibility of moderate rain fall but can quickly turn into heavy precipitation if it continues to grow stronger. I'll keep you posted on this storm, back to you at the news desk."

"I hope that Carrie makes it home before this storm is unleashed," Esme said. I needed to calm down so I went to play my piano. I started off with Moonlight Sonata which is one of Carrie's favorites, and then I played another, Fur Elise. A picture flashed quickly in my mind and I raced back to the living to where Alice was.

"What was that," I asked her urgently. Not having Carrie next or around me is making me jumpy.

"I'm not sure," she said, her tone conveying the truth of her words.

"What did you see," Carlisle asked gently as we all turned to Alice.

"It was someone, a man, a large man judging by the hands, was reaching for a shot gun that was in a vise and began to saw part of it off. I'm not sure what the importance of it is, though they are not always important," Alice said as she went over what she saw. It sounded pretty important to me, like some one planning something illegal and dangerous. I hope that it didn't have to do with Carrie.

"Did you recognize anything," Jasper asked as he reached over and held her hand.

Alice shook her head no. "It appeared to be a rundown motel room or something," she said.

"Can you tell what Carrie is doing," I asked, my concern most definitely apparent.

Alice closed her eyes and brought her right hand up to press against her temple. We were quiet as she concentrated. "From what I can see her and Bella are going to go to the jewelry store soon," she said as she opened her eyes and placed her hand back in her lap. She was having a little trouble seeing them, seeing as Bella is pregnant with a werewolves child; it was hindering her vision. It was quiet until Alice gasped and her eyes were wide and unseeing. I tried to see what she was seeing but I was being blocked. I watched as Alice blinked her eyes and stood up abruptly from the sofa and headed toward the door.

"What is wrong," I asked as the others and I got up to follow her. We were all curious as to what she saw to cause her to act this way. She appeared to be angry at something, and she is hardly ever angry. I heard Jasper, and the others, expressing their concerns at her actions, and their curiosity as well.

"I saw Carrie," she said as we went through the door and started running. The sky is getting darker and looked darker still in the direction that we were running which was Port Angeles.

"What about Carrie," I asked worriedly as I sped up to be slightly in front of her.

"I saw her from anothers prospective. It appeared as if the person was following her. I saw the person's hands; they were the same that were sawing the shotgun. They were watching her as they got out of what appeared to be a truck and headed into an alleyway," she said. I was silent in shock and I saw as the images of the visions flash through my mind as Alice placed them together. I was so angry that I took off running, the others trying yet failing to keep up with me. I could hear thunder in the distance.

Author's POV (because I couldn't decide who to go with, I was thinking mostly Alice)

The rest of the family was shocked as well at what Alice said and picked up their pace. Edward being the faster one pulled ahead and the others who watched as he slowly disappeared in the distance. Carlisle shouted, "Don't do anything too rash Edward, remember what's at stake!" Edward either didn't hear them or didn't acknowledge them. The faster runners Emmett and Jasper tried to catch up but they stayed within sight unlike Edward. Alice was about to go with them since is also a fast runner but she gasped and stopped in her tracks, almost causing Rosalie to run into her. They stopped to see why Alice stopped only to see that she was having a vision. Alice came out of it with a gasp and immediately took off running faster than before.

"What's wrong," Rosalie shouted as she and her parents tried to catch up.

"There is going to be a gun to Carrie's head," Alice shouted back. The others looked at each other, eyes wide in shock, before they too ran faster than before.

Edward's POV

The only thing that was running through my mind was that I hope Carrie was okay and that I would get to her in time. If I knew that this storm was coming I would have gone with her but it just seemed to pop up out of nowhere. I should have gone with her anyways, I could have stayed in my car, It has dark tinted windows. As I was running I got a sense of déjà vu. It was around this time last year that I had to run and save Bella from the hunter James. It seems that just like with Bella I have to protect Carrie from something, but instead of from myself or those like me it is from her own family and whoever it is that Alice saw now. I unwillingly start to compare the two in my mind. Bella got into trouble at the baseball game; Carrie almost got struck by a baseball hit by Emmett. Bella almost died and/or become one of us because of James, Carrie almost died because of blood loss, pneumonia, and hypothermia because of her family. I shake my head to stop these thoughts; I shouldn't be comparing the two for they are completely different.

As all of the past events run through my mind it suddenly dawned on me where I have seen the truck in town from. My eyes go impossibly wide and I actually faltered in my steps and I grabbed onto a tree for balance, nearly tearing a huge chunk out of it. Carrie's step brother drives a truck like the one that we saw. And like that it all clicked into place, Howard had been following Carrie that day, and he is the one that she sensed. That would explain the weird familiarity the she said she felt. I felt a deep dread settle in the pit of my stomach as I remembered the rest of it. He is most likely the one that sawed off the shot gun and he probably following her as I am thinking this. _'What if he has a gun with him?' _I ran to town even faster, the smell of rain heavy in the air.

I arrived at Port Angeles in record time, the storm right over head. I continue running toward the parking lot, hoping to meet them there. I was worried about the lack of people for it made the girls even more vulnerable. I suddenly stopped dead in my tracks when I heard a loud bang that wasn't thunder and it came from the other side of town. _'I hope that that wasn't what I thought it was,'_ I thought as I took off in that direction. I had to rely on sound to find them for the wet air made it hard to smell them out. What I could hear with my gift made me run even faster. I could hear how much Howard wanted revenge and after Carrie is dead he will teach the other girl (Bella) a lesson for getting in his way.

"Bella," I heard Carrie cry from a few blocks away. If it wasn't for my excellent hearing I would have never heard it.

"Not so fast. You are not getting away this time," I heard Howard say and I rounded the corner just as another shot was fired. They were all at the other end of the alley. Bella was on the ground among a bunch of knocked over garbage cans. Carrie was on the ground on her knees, in the process of getting up; facing roughly the direction that Bella was at. Howard was about ten feet away at an angle to Carrie's left with the gun pointed at Carrie. Despite me running at my fastest I watched in slow motion as the multiple pellets of the shot leave the gun. I tried to run faster but the pellets made it to Carrie before I was halfway down the alley. I watched in horror as they tore into Carrie's flesh.

Carrie was struck in the torso. Due to the angle and the distance she was struck in the chest area on the left side… along the heart area. I watched in terror as Carrie's face transformed into one of shock and pain as she was slowly forced back due to the force exerted on her form. Her blood from the wound flew out in a strangely poetic arc as she fell. I could see each drop of rain fall from the sky in crystal clear clarity. It seemed that time had speed back up and I caught Carrie in my arms before she hit the ground.

"Carrie," I called as I cradled her in my arms, my hand pressed tightly to her wound to stop the bleeding. Her breathing was labored most likely from pain and shock. I was slightly dizzy and my throat was slightly drier at the smell but I just ignored it I had more important things at the moment. I heard Howard gasp and I turned toward him with the darkest look on my face that I could muster.

"Where did you come from," he asked slightly scared. He looked more filthy and grungy than the last time that I 'saw' him. It looked like he hasn't bathed in a long while and like he hasn't changed clothes in the same amount of time. "It doesn't matter, I'll take care of you as well," he said as he finished reloading the shot gun and took aim. Before Howard could fire a shot though, he was shoved into the wall by Jasper and quickly knocked out by Emmett. Jasper stepped on the rifle causing it to flatten and kicked it away from us. Carlisle and Esme appeared on the other side of Carrie shortly after and Alice was next to Bella checking on her.

Esme moved so that she could cradle Carrie's head and I gently lay her down. Carrie soon began to gasp and tried to get up but we held her down but made sure that she was slightly elevated. I felt grab on to my wrist and I looked down and saw that Carrie had a death grip on it; it was the same one that was pressed against the wound.

"Carrie, Carrie can you hear me," Carlisle asked as he looked her over for any other wounds.

"…Carl...isle," Carrie gasped. Esme had her hands on both sides of Carrie's face to hold it steady, her thumbs slowly stroking her cheeks. The sunglasses had been removed so I could see Carrie's wide unseeing eyes. "Ch…check on…Bella. She pushed me …out of the way….and…she got knocked into… the trash cans."

"Bella is fine Carrie, Alice is taking care of her," Carlisle reassured her. "Esme keep the pressure steady on this, Edward help me get some of these layers off so I can see the damage." Esme placed her hand on top of mine and I reluctantly pulled my hand away and help Carlisle to get the coat off of Carrie which was used as a cushion of sorts to make her more comfortable. The sweater we tore off and the shirt we tore down the middle. Jasper, Emmett, Alice, who had her arm around Bella were all standing a few feet away from Carrie's feet. Bella turned away because of the blood. Jasper had his fist tightly clenched and Emmett had a grip on Jasper's left arm just in case. The thoughts that I could hear were full of concern and worry. Jasper was having real dark thoughts about Howard and at the moment I agree to them as well. If I wasn't so worried right now I would act them out, be damned of the consequences.

Carlisle used pieces of the sweater to clean the wounds which blood was just oozing out of which he applied more pressure to in order to try and stop it. Carrie let out a small cry of pain as he did so. Esme made some soothing sounds and place a kiss on her forehead whispering that everything was going to be okay and to be strong and fight it. I was holding Carrie's hand in my left while I was using my right to hold some pressure to some of the lower wounds. The pellets had caused damage in a circular area, with her heart unfortunately close to the middle.

"Shouldn't we call an ambulance," Bella asked as she glanced over her shoulder at us. She was holding her cell phone in her hands, her thumbs ready to start dialing.

"Even if you did they wouldn't make it in time," Carlisle said. "It is hard to tell how extensive the damage is, but judging by how badly these wounds here are bleeding her coronary artery may have been nicked. We do not know whether or not the heart or lungs have been damaged." '_Most likely though, especially of the lung_,' he continued in his thoughts. Just as he finished saying that Carrie started coughing. When she stopped I could hear a gurgling sound coming from her as she breathed and her teeth her stained pink. Both of these were signs of her coughing up blood and fluid in the lungs.

"How about I carry her," I suggested, speaking quickly. "We are all fast runners, but I'm the fastest of us. I could try to get her to the hospital. Bella could call her dad and tell him about him over there," I nodded my head to the still out cold form of Howard.

"I wouldn't really suggest moving her in this condition, we could cause worse damage, especially since we are not sure of the extent of it," Carlisle said.

"Is there anything that we can do?" Esme asked as softly ran her fingers through Carrie's hair in an attempt to make her feel more comfortable. We all looked at each other wondering what we were going to do. Alice was holding on to Bella who was still mainly looking away from us. Emmett and Rosalie had moved when we were getting the clothes off of Carrie. Emmett was standing behind and off to the side of me and Rosalie was the same next to Carlisle. They had managed to zip their coats together and were holding them over Carrie like a tent or canopy to prevent Carrie from getting too drenched from the down pour of rain. Jasper was over by Howard to keep an eye on him. Thanks to the rain the blood didn't affect him as bad, and because he has better control of his instincts now. The winds was blowing hard, we were protected from most of it by being in the alley and lightning danced in the sky. We could feel the thunder rumble through us despite our stone like bodies.

Carrie started coughing again but she tried to hold it in so her body made little lunges or arches. Some still escaped and blood started to run out of the left corner of her mouth. Esme took her thumb and shakily wiped it away. Carlisle and I were still applying pressure to the wounds and he was still trying to determine how bad the damage is. "Why don't you try and change her," Bella asked hesitantly.

"That is only to be done if there is no other choice. We were going to make an exception to you but Carrie has made her choice clear on the matter," Carlisle said as he looked at her. He then turned his attention back to Carrie. Her clouded eyes were no longer wide open but closer to half lidded. Her complexion was paler and sweat started to form on her brow. I wanted to scream and yell about how we were wasting time, but I just couldn't find my voice as I looked upon the one that I love. She just looked so frail and it bothered me that she wasn't thinking anything. It's not that I couldn't read it, like before, it was just blank, there was no thoughts running through her mind. It made me worry about her even more.

"Do you see anything Alice," Jasper asked concerned.

Alice closed her eyes and concentrated harder than she has ever done before to get an answer quickly. "I can't see anything," she said with shake of her head, "not for tomorrow or five minutes from now. All of our eyes widened at that. I narrowed my eyes in determination as I turned back to Carrie. I let go of the hand that I was holding and as gently as I could I placed my arms around her back and under her knees.

"What are you doing," Rosalie asked in disbelief and slight shock with a bit of anger. My movement caused Emmett and Rosalie to move so that I could stand. Carrie lightly flinched as the cold rain came into contact with her previously (somewhat) dry skin.

"More than what can be done by just sitting here," I practically yelled. "I'm going to at least try to get her to a hospital." I shifted my hold on Carrie, which caused some gasps of pain to come from her, in preparation to start running to the nearest hospital.

"Wait," Emmett called out before I left.

"What," I snapped. _'Don't they realize that Carrie's life hangs in the balance and they are delaying me?'_ Carlisle came up to me and wrapped more fabric around her to increase the pressure to her wounds. When he finished Emmett came up and wrapped Carrie's jacket around her.

"Don't want her to get too wet, she might catch a cold," Emmett said with a small half hearted laugh.

"Thanks Emmett," I said quietly then I disappeared in a blink of an eye out of the alleyway. From the thoughts that I could hear Carlisle, Esme and Rosalie were going to be following me while the others were going to be taking care of Bella and Howard. I was taking the most direct route that I could to the hospital which was through a thick patch of forest. My speed was only slightly reduced because even though it was only winter/spring the ground level was thick with new and old growth and I made sure to not jostle Carrie around too much. I am beginning to worry because the shaking that she has been doing from the shock has been going back and forth between speeding up and slowing down and she is coughing more than before. Due to the way that I was holding her she was coughing into my shirt and jacket getting blood all over it. I wasn't mad at all; it only made me more worried for her condition.

I was about halfway there when Carrie started a coughing fit so bad it sounded like she was choking. I had to stop so I could hold on to her tighter so as to not drop her. I began to panic when her coughs became gasps and I knelt down to the ground to set her down and help her to breathe. I was holding her up and trying things to help her breathe. Carrie's eyes were wide, her hand clutching her upper chest, near her throat. There was blood all around her mouth and down her chin. Her skin was even paler and had a strange tint to it and it felt cold and clammy. "Carrie, Carrie, babes, come on, what's wrong," I asked. I know a stupid question to ask but I wasn't thinking rationally.

"I...I...can't...breathe," she managed to get out in a strained, hoarse whisper around her heavy gasps.

I was starting to panic even more. Sure I went to medical school, but due to my circumstances I didn't actually become a doctor; I don't know what to do. "CARLISLE," I began to shout as I held Carrie close to try and comfort her. They shouldn't be that far behind me so why are they taking so long? "CARLISLE...CARLISLE...Carlisle," I continued shouting. _'What on Earth could be keeping him?'_ "Carl-," was as far as I got as he and the women showed up.

"What's wrong," Carlisle asked as he came up to kneel next to us.

"She can't breathe, it is almost as if she is choking," I said in a shaky voice.

He began to look Carrie over and looked slightly panicked himself when he saw her throat.

"Her lung has collapsed. We need to try and relieve some of the pressure around it and hopefully it will inflate itself if the pressure is the only cause," he said.

"But wouldn't the blood escaping into her body be the reason for the pressure," I asked and Carlisle nodded. "But she has lost so much blood already, isn't there another cause?" I looked Carrie over again and knew that we had to act soon for she was starting to show signs of cyanosis (hypoxia); a blue tint to her lips and nails. Her blood is not getting enough oxygen.

"Would you prefer she dies of exsanguination (hypovolemia, bleeding out), or asphyxiation (suffocation, being unable to breathe)," Carlisle asked as he gave me a hard look.

"I prefer that she not die," I said as I move her to lean against Esme who was sitting on her knees on the wet and muddy ground. The coat was once again used as a cushion as Carlisle and I took off the bandages and handed then to Rosalie. Carrie's breath was coming in shorter quicker pants, her mouth and jaw moving like a fish almost as to swallow more air. Her eyes were once again wide open, slightly off in color, close to rolling back into her head. Her wounds were finally revealed to us but they were barely bleeding anymore; a good and bad sign. "How can we relieve the pressure?"

"Well since we don't have a scalpel or a tube for draining that only leaves...suction," Carlisle finished quietly.

All of our heads snapped to him in shock. "You...you're not suggesting what I think you are...are you," Esme questioned with a shaky and slightly disbelieving voice.

"I'm afraid so my dear. One of us is going to have to taste her blood," Carlisle said as he looked at me.

"No," I flat out denied. It wasn't that I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to stop; it was the thought that drinking her blood made me ill to my stomach. I was repulsed at the idea that I had to taste her blood.

"You don't have to drink it, just suck it out," Carlisle said. I just clenched my mouth shut tight and shook my head stubbornly side to side. I couldn't help but to think that I was acting like a little kid.

"Oh for goodness sake Edward move," Rosalie said as she thrust the bandages into my arms and shoved me out of the way. She kneeled down where I previously was and asked Carlisle what she should do. He pointed to a couple of places that she should use to be most effective. Rosalie placed her shaking hands on either side of a wound and leaned forward while letting out a shaky, unnecessary breath. She looked at Carrie's face and said, "I'm sorry" before she placed her lips around the wound and began to suck. She would get a mouthful and spit it out to her side. I could see that it was good that she didn't swallow it for some of the pellets came out as well. As the blood was being removed Carrie began to breathe a bit easier but it was still really labored. After using a few wounds to relieve the pressure Rosalie pulled with one last mouth full of blood which she spat out and made a face of tasting something unappetizing. "Well at least I don't have to worry about craving her blood. It started off sweet like honey then it changed into something I never want to taste again."

"Nice to know," I mumbled "Is she going to be alright," I asked Carlisle.

He was currently holding her wrist, checking her pulse. Esme was once again running her fingers through Carrie's hair and Rosalie took the bandages back and knelt by Carrie's feet, her eyes slightly red tinted. "I'm afraid we have only managed to buy her a few extra minutes. Her lungs are still filling with liquid, and it will most likely collapse again. I'm beginning to think that her heart took some damage as well which isn't good considering her heart was weak to begin with do to her life and what happened this past winter. As we speak her heart is not beating properly and isn't very regular in its beats. She won't even make it to the hospital at this rate no matter how fast you run," Carlisle said sadly as he held Carrie's hand after checking her pulse.

We all looked at Carrie sadly as we wiped the rainy tears from our faces and we completely forgot the storm as it blew and raged around us. Carrie didn't seem to be bothered by the rain falling on her anymore; hopefully it is only because she got use to it. We were all drenched but it was insignificant to the thought that Carrie may not survive to see tomorrow. "Can't we change her? The only family that she has is us so there will be no one else to miss her," I asked beseechingly of Carlisle.

"I'm not even sure that she would survive the venom attacking her body," Carlisle said sadly. We were quiet as we watched Carrie take what could possibly be her last breath.

"What do you think her chances of survival are," I asked Carlisle after I made my decision of what I want to do.

I watched Carlisle as he thought it over. I could tell that the others were watching him also. "Less than fifty percent, closer to fifteen or twenty percent," he said. "If we do this it might be a good idea, I'm not sure really, to put some venom on the wounds as well. I don't think that we should do it, if she dies it will be a painful death, why make her suffer.

"She is in constant pain already," I shouted, "she has been ever since she woke up a few months ago. Every time that our minds meld I can feel how much pain that she is in, which is pretty darn close to the pain I felt when I was changed, if not worse, The pain meds that you have been giving her are of no use. So save me the lecture about saving her from pain she is stronger than what you give her credit for." I was really huffing at the end of my rant. They seemed to be in shock at what I had said and Carlisle looked slightly angry and disappointed yet I could see understanding in his eyes.

He looked like he was going to say something but we looked down as Carrie began to say something. "Gees...have some faith...in me at least. I've been in sticky situations before...and bounced back from them. I'm a survivor," she said as best as she could between coughs and wheezes.

"You do realize what we are talking about right," Carlisle asked as he began re-bandaging Carrie's wounds.

"Of course... I'm blind, not deaf...Don't worry about the pain though...I'm not feeling much at this point in time," she said. This had me even more worried for it meant that we were running out of time. "Edward," she asked softly.

"Yeah," I said as I held her left hand. I saw that she was struggling to sit up and Esme tried to get her back down but I shook my head at her and helped Carrie up. She was gasping for air as I held her close; she buried her nose in the crook of my neck. We sat there and I could hear as she slowly deteriorated. She brought her head up and whispered in my ear, "Just remember...that I...will always… love you." At her words I felt a stinging in my eyes and blinked my eyes hard and I felt something warm and wet slide down my cheek along with the rain. I was crying; crying for my love in my arms as she slowly slipped away. I buried my nose in her neck like she did with me to try and get a pure smell of her scent. I opened my eyes and looked up to Carlisle who was holding a sad Esme. We made I made eye contact and he nodded once as he wrapped his arms tighter around Esme. I could hear his and the girls thoughts on how it may already be too late. I placed my lips in the crook of Carrie's neck and placed a kiss there. I brought my head up and whispered an "I'm sorry if I cause you any pain" which I didn't get a response.

I closed my eyes and placed my lips back to where it was before I closed my eyes and concentrated on the thought of saving her. All of my most precious memories of her started flashing through my mind; Halloween, Thanksgiving break, our date, every time I got to hold her in my arms, every night I held her while she slept. I concentrated on these happy thoughts as I let the venom flow into my mouth. I opened my mouth and some of the venom fell out onto Carrie, and then I sunk my teeth right where I had my mouth earlier and where the henna tattoo was so long ago.

Carrie gasped when I bit her and jumped at the feeling. I kept a hold of her though so that she wouldn't struggle and cause further damage. I continued to pump my venom into her hoping to maybe make the process go a little faster. Carrie was gasping more which also caused her to cough as she weakly struggled against me. I could hear her heart beat a little harder and faster as her body tried to fight my venom off. When I thought that I had held on long enough I released her from my teeth and held her close, rubbing small circles on her back. Carlisle and Esme moved forward and motioned for me to lay her down. I set her down on Esme's lap like before and she held on to Carrie's shoulders. Rosalie moved to hold her legs down so that she wouldn't thrash around.

Carlisle was checking her pulse and other things to see how she was doing so far. "Quick, get the bandages off and add some venom to the wounds, it may help," Carlisle said. I did as he asked and I smelled something sweet in the air. I look up and see that Carlisle has his hand to his mouth and when he pulls it away I see that he has some of his venom cupped in his hand. He moves it to one of the deeper wounds and tries to pour some of the venom in it. Carrie tried to roll away from it so I held her hips down while Esme gripped her shoulders tighter and Rosalie moved her grip closer to the knees. Carrie is still gasping for breath as we are doing this and her eyes are closed tight as small pitiful screams ripped from her throat which soon died down to nothing. Carlisle took the venom that was still on his hand and wiped it around the wounds as well.

As a result of her heart beating harder some blood was actually gushing out of a wound that was in the middle of her chest. Carlisle actually tore off the sleeve of his sweater, folded it as a bandage and had it pressed tightly to the wound. Due to where I had my hands on her hips I could feel the pulse of her femoral artery as it matched her heart beat. _Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump… ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump…_ "Carlisle, her pulse has changed," I said. This could either be a good or bad sign; good because the venom is already working, bad because her heart could be giving out. We all have loosened our hold on her by now for her struggles have been replaced by an occasional small body lurch.

Carlisle grabbed onto Carrie's wrist feeling her pulse. _Ba-bump, ba-bump…ba-bump, ba-bump…ba-bump, _is what we felt. Carlisle let go and leaned closer to get a better listen to her breathing; it was shallow and still watery sounding. He pulled away as she began to cough again. Her whole body lurched as her lungs tried to get rid of the liquid filling it. After about a minute later she finally stopped but her breathing was more ragged sounding, yet softer at the same time. We sat there, watching as she breathed; in then out, in and out. In, out…in…out… in…out. I looked at her face and noticed that she seemed to be trying to keep her eyes open. She would blink and her lids would slowly flutter open. Each time it took longer for her eyes to open. She took in a small breathe, but when she let out it took longer as if more air was coming out, like all the air was leaving her body. Her eyes drifted close and all of the tension in her body seemed to melt away.

"Carrie," I said in panic, the burning behind my eyes increasing. I could swear that I was close to hyperventilating, believing that she has just died in front of my eyes. Esme and Rosalie let out a gasp as they too thought that she had died. Carlisle slowly reaches for her wrist and leans forward so his ear is over her mouth, listening and feeling for any breathing. I sat back on my knees, my fingers digging into the dirt by them, my form trembling. I'm not sure how long we stayed like that but Carlisle pulled away with a grim face.

"Is she…" Esme questioned, unable to fully ask what we all feared.

A small smile appeared on his face which had me confused. _'Why would he be smiling? Unless…' _"I guess she is going to prove herself right again," he said.

"What do you mean by that," Rosalie asked confused.

"She is just unconscious. The only way that I can think to describe it is that she has slipped into some sort of coma," he said.

"But she's not breathing and look at how limp she became," I said motioning to her form which seems more relaxed than before.

"See for yourself," Carlisle said. I stared at him then moved my eyes down to Carrie. It was so scary to see the way that she is right now; pale, drenched with rain which has mixed with the blood on her chin, blood visible in her mouth, unmoving. The only good thing about her appearance is that like when she is deep asleep she doesn't appear to be in pain. I slowly moved closer to her and leaned down much like Carlisle did a short time ago. I placed my ear close to Carrie's mouth and listened carefully. I was starting to lose hope after a couple of minutes of listening so I got up and shot Carlisle a look. He just said, "Listen harder." I leaned down again and closed my eyes. I tried to block everything out, the rain falling, the wind blowing and the thunder rolling, and the thoughts from those around me, I concentrated on only what was right next to my ear. I listened and I listened but still got nothing. I was about to pull away when I thought that I heard something so I immediately froze. I was beginning to think that it was a figment of my imagination when I heard it again. A long while later (it seemed long to me) I heard it again, and again, and again. She was breathing! That means that she is still alive! It was a short, shallow breath, some gurgling every now and then, but it was still a breath.

I pulled myself away, my eyes wide. I reached a shaking hand out and gently picked up her hand and pressed my fingers where her pulse will be. I closed my eyes and only concentrated on what I was feeling under my fingers. I waited and waited until I finally felt something. I kept a hold on Carrie's wrist as I waited to feel that pulse again. _Ba - bump…ba - bump…ba - bump. _(The extra space around the hyphen is to show time between them.) Her heart was beating but just barely in an eerily similar way as to when we find her last winter.

"Well," Rosalie asked impatiently yet still worried and concerned.

"She is barely breathing, and her heart is beating but very weakly," I said with a small watery smile as I moved my hand to hold Carrie's hand between mine. I leaned down and brought her hand up a little bit and placed a kiss on the back of it then resting my forehead on it. My whole form shaking and more tears fell from my eyes. I just felt so tired then but I was so relieved that she was still with me, that I wouldn't be alone.

"What should we do now," Esme asked.

"We can't take her to the hospital with the venom in her now. It will cause a panic when her heart stops but she is able to move around. There is also a possibility that she might go after someone when the process is complete. We should take her home and look after her there," Carlisle said. We all voiced our agreements to his reasoning. I moved so that I was crouched down and I placed my arms under Carrie much like before and gently picked her up like she was the most fragile thing in the world. "Don't go to fast, stay with us this time," Carlisle said as he looked at me. I nodded and we took off running with Carlisle in the lead, Esme beside me and Rosalie behind us.

MAN THERE WERE A COUPLE OF PLACES THAT I WAS CLOSE TO ENDING IT THERE, WOULD MAKE QUITE SUSPENSEFUL CLIFFHANGERS. BUT I DECIDED TO BE NICE AND CONTIUE ON.

OH CHIKA WHERE ARE YOU? YOUR PART IS COMING UP SOON. YOU'RE GONNA MISS IT. LOL

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PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU LIKE IT REVIEW AND TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND FOLLOWERS AND EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO READ AND REVIEW AS WELL

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	33. Chapter 33

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

YAY THANK YOU TO **CLEO4EVER44**,** CIAMI**, AND **MRS. BRIANNA** **EMMETT CULLEN **FOR REVIEWING THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER. AND FOR **MRS. BRIANNA ****EMMETT CULLEN** AND **OO2UNIQ4UOO** FOR ADDING THIS STORY TO YOUR STORY ALERT LIST.

**Chapter 33 Waiting**

Edward's POV

It took us a while to get home considering the distance we had to travel, despite how fast we were moving. As we were running I was surprised at how quickly we traveled the distance going to town; we had all moved faster than we ever had before. I guess great concern for something you care deeply about can have some unexpected results to the things that you do to help them. The rain began to lighten as we traveled. I'm not sure if it is because we were out running the storm or what; it wasn't relevant at the moment. We left Port Angeles behind and after a while Forks came into sight. I took no notice of the people bustling about as we headed to the forest. We headed in as straight a path toward home as we could; our path only diverged to avoid parts of town or if we sensed people in the woods.

As we passed Carrie's old house we knew that home was only a few minutes away. Soon enough we came across our drive way and followed it to the house. "Take her up to her bathroom, we need to clean her up before we further inspect the damage," Carlisle said.

The house came into sight and I saw that Jasper was holding the door open for us which we quickly ran through. His replaying memories filled me in on what happened when I left, Howard being arrested, after Emmett dropping him off in front of the nearest police station, and dropping Bella off at her truck after making sure she was alright. I headed up to Carrie's room with Esme behind me. Carlisle went to the kitchen with Rosalie and Jasper following him to help in any way needed. We entered Carrie's room and Emmett was standing next to the bed, unloading a box of medical supplies. When I entered the bathroom my thoughts of Alice having a vision about this was confirmed as she standing next to a tub filled with warm water and towels nearby. I handed Carrie to Alice and Esme told me, "Go change, we'll take care of things from here."

I left, closing the bathroom door behind me, and went to my room. I stood there in the middle of my room as everything that has happened ran through my mind. I was trembling so bad that I fell to my knees. I was once again shocked as tears fell to the floor. I haven't cried in so long; since I was human, that I thought that I could no longer cry like I don't sleep any more. My thoughts started to ponder this development but I push it from my mind, it is unimportant at this time. I slowly made my way back onto my feet with unsteady legs. I took the time then to look at myself. My hands had blood on them, along with my jacket and the button up shirt that I was wearing underneath, my pants had some blood on them but they were mainly covered in mud. I took off my coat and threw it out of my open window door. It was soon followed by everything else I was wearing.

I tried my best to rub off the dry blood of my form but I could still smell it so I headed to my bathroom. (They each have their own personal bathroom in my story). I stepped into the shower and let the hottest water that I could get fall down on me. I stood there for I while before I grabbed the soap and began to scrub against my skin as hard as I could to get the smell of Carrie's blood off of me. It smelled delicious yet disgusting at the same time, all I knew is that I didn't want to smell it, I wanted it gone.

When I was done I got out and wrapped a towel around my waist and headed back out into my room. I walk over to my closet to get something to put on. I grab a pair of blue house pants and put those on, and a grey t-shirt. I was just pulling the shirt down when I spotted something on my bed/sofa. I slowly walked over and picked it up. It was one of my black shirts. What made this shirt special though was that this was the shirt that Carrie was wearing last night. She has her own night clothes to wear, but she likes to wear mine, which doesn't bother me at all. I bring the shirt up to my nose and inhale deeply of her scent that was soaked into the shirt. A smile came to my face as I remembered how it came to be that Carrie wore that shirt.

Flashbacks

Last night, sometime after supper around ten, we were all sitting in the living room watching a movie. Well Carrie was listening to it with me showing parts of it to her and occasionally describing things. She was able to follow it and enjoy the movie. We were sitting the floor, Carrie in front of me leaning against my chest, while I leaned back against the open area of the sofa which Alice and Jasper were occupying. Carrie was eating a small bowl of ice cream that Esme had given her. Currently a battle scene was playing and I could tell by her posture and body language that she was getting into it. I have seen this movie countless times before so I practically knew it by heart, not that my vampire memory doesn't help.

I decided to be a little mischievous and was going to spook Carrie when a large explosion takes place after a small quiet time. I removed my arms from around Carrie and held them close to her sides. Carrie didn't even notice that I did this; she was holding a spoonful of ice cream between her mouth and the bowl as she listened to the battle play out. I waited and waited and when the loud explosion came I poked her in the sides. Carrie, not expecting the noise or my poke, jumped at them which caused the ice cream that was in the spoon to fall and land on her chest and slowly slide down her shirt.

"Edward," she shouted. The others let out some chuckles at our antics and were watching us instead of the movie. "Don't do that, you nearly gave me a heart attack." She then seemed to realize that she had a bowl of ice cream in her hands and started to feel around to see if she got any on her. She found it all right and if it wasn't for the length of her shirt it would have been all over her lap. "Look at what you made me do; now I'm all sticky."

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," I said as I grabbed the bowl from her and set it to the side then helped her up. I led her to the down stairs bathroom so she could get cleaned up. She washed her hands first then dried them.

"Can you get me another shirt," she asked. Me, being the kind of guy that I am, took my own shirt off and handed it to her. I then closed the door and waited outside for her to come out.

End flashback

She wore my shirt the rest of the night and after she changed she must have placed it back into my room. I was still breathing deeply from the shirt, taking comfort in her scent. Coming to a decision I set the shirt down, take off the one that I was wearing and put on the black one. I took a breath in as I was surrounded and encased in Carrie's scent. After taking comfort from the scent, this time it reminded me of a meadow during the spring bloom, I left my room. I looked toward Carrie's door and saw that my brothers were waiting outside her closed door, their thoughts silent due to their worry and concern. I slowly walked over to them and they looked up at my arrival. They both seemed to look me up and down, taking in my appearance, before Emmett clapped one of his massive hands on my shoulder, gently squeezed, and gave me a small smile and a nod. I gave him a small nod in return then leaned against the wall directly across from the door to wait.

"What happened from there to here for you to take so long," Emmett asked curious and to distract himself from wondering what exactly was happening on the on the other side of the door. His thoughts wee wondering why him, Alice and Jasper made it back before me and the others.

"Her lung collapsed, causing her to choke. We had to stop in order to try and get it to re-inflate. Eventually Rosalie sucked some blood out to relieve the pressure," I informed them slowly, giving them a short explanation, finding it difficult to find my voice as the previous stress began to take its toll on me mentally and slightly in a physical way as well.

"Whoa, Rosalie sucked some blood, that's not like her," Emmett said in a slightly joking way to try and lighten the tense atmosphere. But then something seemed to dawn on him, "Why didn't you do it?" he asked with his brow furrowed and head slightly tilted to the right.

"I refused to do so," I responded. '_I couldn't, I couldn't do it. I just couldn't bring myself to do it._' Both of them seemed to understand what I couldn't say out loud as Emmett moved to lean against the wall next to Carrie's bedroom door with his massive arms crossed over his broad chest. Jasper leaned against the wall a few feet from my right, his right foot propped against the wall behind him and his hands in his trouser pockets. I slid down the wall so I was sitting on the floor. We were silent once again listening to the rest of the family shuffle around on the other side of the door doing things.

"It had to be done didn't it," Jasper asked in his quiet voice as he turned to fully face me and looked right into my eyes. I nodded and affirmative.

"Who," Emmett asked for confirmation since he already believed he knew whom it was.

"I did," I answered. They gave me a look of understanding. I could tell from their thoughts that they felt sorry for me. One because the woman that I love has been so badly injured, again I might add, and that she is the first one that I have bitten to transform in order to save their life. They felt sorry that my first and hopefully only one that I had to do that to be the person that I would throw myself at the blood thirsty Volturi for; the one person whom I would willingly allow myself to be torn to shreds and burned in order to save them.

"Carlisle poured some of his venom in to the wounds though," I decided to add. They nodded at this information and knew the consequences as well as the benefits. The venom of two different vampires in a single body could either be devastating, like killing the person before they are transformed ending the process, or beneficial like speeding the process up, which can be bad as well for there could be 'deformities', or it could make the new vampire stronger than normal or allow a person on the edge of death to be transformed. Since Carlisle is the one to changed me, our venom's are very similar like that of a father and son DNA match but a tad different, so our venom's are more likely to work together for a beneficial result.*

We continued to stay there in our places in the hall way outside of Carrie's door. We could hear someone move around every now and then and the facet of the sink coming on every little bit as well. Eventually, I'm not sure how much time had passed, the door opened and a tired looking Carlisle came out with blood stained latex gloves on his hands. Jasper stiffened slightly, as we all did but him a bit more, at the fresh wave of the scent of blood that came from the room. He gave us a look that clearly said that he would explain later as he passed us on his way to his own room. I shakily stood to my feet and slowly walked into the room and saw that Esme was just finishing tucking Carrie into bed. She turned around and I saw that she had some blood on her as well. I could hear the girls cleaning up in the bathroom. As I passed her Esme gave me a very small, tired smile that was meant to comfort me, I have never seen her look so worn out.

I walked around the foot of the bed and as I went to go around to the other side I kicked something. The noise of the object moving startled me so that I jumped slightly and stepped on something else which I quickly moved off of as well. I looked down to see what I stepped on and kicked and I see paint brushes, a painting pad, tubes of paint and a brush cup. Despite that the art supplies where set up next to the window, they have been knocked over and strewn about. I slowly walk over to the over turned easel and pick up the canvas that was laying face down. I pick up the canvas to see the painting that Carrie has been working on for the past month. It is supposed to be a recreation of the valley as seen from her window.

Flashback to the day before

I was with Carrie in her room, the curtains were wide open and the sunlight streamed in, bouncing off my stone skin, causing it to sparkle and small rainbows to dance around the room. We were over by the window and Carrie had her painting things set up. The easel was set up in front of us with a two foot by two foot canvas on it and beside us was a small table that had cups, brushes, paints and paint trays on it. Carrie was sitting on a tall stool with a paint brush in one hand and holding a paint tray in the other. She was wearing an old pair of house pants and an old shirt of hers so that if she got paint on them it wouldn't matter with her hair pulled up in a ponytail with the tail braided. I was standing behind her wearing old jeans and a white shirt. I had my face buried in the crock of her neck, placing small butterfly kisses from ear to shoulder while I was lightly running my hands up and down her arms and occasionally her sides.

"Edward, I'm trying to work here," Carrie complained lightly with a small giggle as she shrugged her right shoulder up to cover her neck which I was currently teasing.

"But I want to touch you," I slightly whined as I moved to the other side of her neck which she blocked from me as well.

"Well I'm trying to practice and it is kind of hard to when you are distracting me. Besides it is kind of hard to work when I can't see and you're my eyes," she said, a happy content smile on her face.

"I'm that and so much more," I said in a teasing way, but with a completely serious undertone that I knew that she would catch.

"That you are," she said as she turned to face me. I leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss.

"Ooooohhhh," we heard a male voice call. We broke apart and looked toward the doorway and saw Emmett standing there. He was standing there with a smug smile on his face. "Edward and Carrie sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g," he said in a sing song voice.

I let out a growl and ran towards my 'dear brother' as I shouted his name. I ran after him as he took off down the hall. I could hear Carrie's laughter ringing through the house.

End flash back.

I come out of my thoughts and look down at the painting I was holding. It wasn't professional work but it wasn't bad considering how long she has been practicing. Carrie was planning on trying to finish it either today or tomorrow. I look around and noticed that the mess around me has been cleaned up while I was zoned out, lost in my thoughts, my precious memories. I place the painting back on the easel. I turn around and take a seat in a chair that was next to her bed; Emmett was standing at the foot of the bed while Jasper was sitting at the desk. It was quiet so the girls must be in their own rooms cleaning themselves up. I just sat there watching Carrie, trying to see any movement indicating that she was breathing. I gently reached my hand out and felt for a pulse in her neck and was comforted by a light beat that occurred between long intervals. This and her breathing still had me deeply worried but unfortunately there was nothing that I could do about it.

I heard footsteps and my brothers and I snapped our heads to the door and watched as a still tired appearing Carlisle walked in and sat in the other chair on the other side of the bed. He too was watching Carrie with worried eyes. Jasper was about to question him but he just held his hand up as to silence him and us. We took the hint and remained silent as we waited. Soon enough the girls came in and they too were wearing something else and it was obvious that they had hopped in the shower as well. Esme sat on the edge of the bed near Carlisle, Rosalie stood next to Emmett at the foot of the bed, Alice sat at the foot of the bed and Jasper moved to stand next to her.

I wanted to ask him so bad about Carrie but I just couldn't find myself to do so, let alone find my voice. Carlisle broke the silence though like he knew that I wanted to ask about her. "There was some damage to her heart and left lung from the shot. There is nothing that I can really do about it without taking her to the hospital, though the venom I placed in the wound seems to have healed some of the damage already. It appears that when she was coughing earlier she was able to get most of the fluid out of her lungs, so that isn't bothering her as much. I was able to get most of the pellets out and stitched up the wounds. There are still some that are around the heart, and some that may have moved to somewhere else in her body that I don't dare to try to go after," he said quietly.

"Will she be alright," Emmett asked, his usually boisterous voice subdued as well. No one seemed to want to break the solemn atmosphere that was surrounding us.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I guess it all depends on her, I have done what I could the venom has been put into her system, now we just have to wait and watch." Carlisle replied as he turned to face Carrie's direction again. We were all quiet as we stayed where we were and just watched her. We all stayed there for hours just watching her. The only one who moved was Carlisle who got up and got a thermometer and checked Carrie's temperature from time to time. Her temperature was climbing very slowly which Carlisle said is probably a good sign. "It means that her body is trying to fight the venom. If you remember we got really hot before we turned stone cold." He said that last part as a bit of humor to try and cheer us up but it didn't have the desired effect. Only Carrie was really good at doing that.

We were still sitting where we have been for several hours, it was evening now, when the silence was broken by some small quiet noise. We all picked our heads up looking for the cause of the noise. It slowly got louder and I realized that it was music.

_Last night I had a crazy dream_

_A wish was granted just for me_

_It could be for anything_

_I didn't ask for money_

_Or a mansion in Malibu_

_I simply wished, for one more day with you_

_One more day One more time_

_One more sunset, maybe I'd be satisfied_

_But then again I know what it would do_

_Leave me wishing still, for one more day with you_

The music got louder and louder, but Carrie did not stir. I traced the music back to its source and saw the iPod and station that we got Carrie shortly after Thanksgiving. It was then that I remembered why the music began playing but I kept quiet. None of us made a move to turn the music off; we just quietly sat there and listened as the music played.

_First thing I'd do, is pray for time to crawl_

_Then I'd unplug the telephone And keep the TV off_

_I'd hold you every second_

_Say a million I love you's_

_That's what I'd do, with one more day with you_

_One more day One more time _

_One more sunset, maybe I'd be satisfied_

_But then againI know what it would do_

_Leave me wishing still, for one more day with you_

_Leave me wishing still, for one more day_

_Leave me wishing still, for one more day _

(Diamond Rio's One More Day)

When the song finished I got up and turned the iPod off. "What was that? Why did that play," Rosalie asked quietly, she sounded a little choked up. I think the song had an effect on all of us, given the circumstances.

"It was an alarm Carrie set up with her iPod. It is set to go off now to remind her to take her medication before she went to bed," I said as I sat back down.

"Should we give her the medicine? How about some food," Esme asked turning to look at Carlisle while slowly standing up and moving her clasped fingers around nervously.

"I'm not sure," he said, "not knowing how bad the damage is and how far the venom has healed it I'm not sure if it would be a good idea. Besides you remember how hard it was to feed her the last time she was like this." We didn't question him about his decision. We stayed there watching her for the rest of the day and a good part of the next. The others started leaving around two o'clock in the afternoon to go hunt. First was Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie, then an hour or so later Alice left. Around five o'clock or so Esme and Carlisle went to leave but not without trying to coax me to go along with them.

"Come on Edward, I can tell you are thirsty and you haven't fed for days. Come with us, one of the others will watch over her," Esme said like a concerned mother that she is.

"No," I said in a whisper.

"Edward," Carlisle said in his commanding tone of voice, but he stopped when he saw that I wasn't going to listen to him. "Fine either you will go out when we get back or we will have to bring some back for you." He turned and left with Esme following hesitantly behind. I could tell that she didn't like seeing me like this, but I was bound and determined that I will not let Carrie out of my sight again. Sure enough when they returned Carlisle and Emmett forced me to go out and hunt. I tried to do it as quickly as possible but they wouldn't let me go back until they were satisfied. When I got home I cleaned up and went right back to my seat next to Carrie. That night I was left alone with Carrie so I crawled into bed next to her and pulled her close and just held her all night.

The old routine from when Carrie was ill came back. At meal times we would all meet up in Carrie's room and stayed for an hour or so and for the rest of the day they would come in and out as they pleased. Carlisle would take her temperature from time to time. I never once left her side. During the day I would either sit next to the bed or next to her or lie down next to her or lay against the head board holding her against me and at night I would lay with her.

By the end of the third day, Saturday, we were surprised, baffled and worried when we discovered that her heart was still beating, albeit very softly, slowly and a bit unsteadily; she hadn't changed into one of us. "Perhaps she was so close to deaths door that the venom is just healing her," Jasper theorized, but we all heard the unsure and confused tone of his voice, his southern drawl was a little thicker.

"Perhaps," Carlisle agreed, because he himself didn't have a clue. Something like this, like a vampire crying, has never been heard of before. "We'll keep an eye on her though. With her body the way that it is it may take longer for it to take effect."

Monday morning came and my siblings were getting ready for school, I wasn't however which didn't escape notice. "Edward, sweetie, you need to get ready for school," Esme said from the doorway.

"I'm not going," I said. I was sitting in my usual chair, holding Carrie's hand. I looked particularly disheveled, I was still wearing the same clothes from the first night and they were all wrinkled and my hair was sticking up everywhere.

"What do you mean you're not going," she asked concerned more at my actions and my tone.

"Exactly what I meant, I'm not going to school, I'm not leaving Carrie's side, I'm not leaving until she wakes up," I said as I took one hand and began to softly stroke her head tenderly.

"You can't miss school Edward," Esme said her voice raising just slightly in volume as she crossed her arms trying to get me to go.

"I already know everything, what difference does it make. I've done it before, I'll do it again," I said, coming very close to yelling, letting her know that my decision was final on this.

"It's alright dear," Carlisle said calmly as he and the others came into the room.

"Fine, but just for this week, we'll discuss any further time this week." Esme said giving up on trying to persuade me. Her words might have sounded harsh but we all know that she is just deeply concerned and worried about us.

"What are we going to tell the administrators at school," Jasper asked looking to Carlisle. I could tell that him and the others wanted to stay as well, especially Alice since she hasn't been able to see anything about Carrie's future, but they understood that if they all stayed it might raise some questions from those at the school and soon the town.

Carlisle thought about it for a moment before he said, "Tell them that I sent Carrie to an old friend of mine who specializes in things that have to do with the eyes for her to get checked out to see of her sight can be restored. Tell them I sent Edward and Esme along with her so she wouldn't be alone." Jasper nodded and they left to go to school and Carlisle left for work. I spent that day like every other since we brought Carrie home, just sitting next to her and letting her know that I was there for her. I occasionally took a wet cloth to her brow to get rid of the sweat. She is still running a slight fever which Esme checks each time she comes in to see how we are doing. When the others got home Alice would immediately come up into Carrie's room, sit at the foot of the bed and tell Carrie about what happened at school. Then she would go off and do her homework like the others. Jasper came in and dropped of our assignments on Carrie's desk, which he picked up to further collaberate our story.

It has been eight days since I bit Carrie and nothing has changed so far. Every night Carlisle has checked her wounds and said that they appear to be healing up slowly, but nicely. He also said that from what he can tell there seems to be no physical changes at all that show that she has been changed. That didn't matter to me; I just want her to wake up. I want to see her smile, her blush, I want to hear her laugh, I want to hear her say my name, and I want to feel her arms around me again. I want to watch as she wakes up in my arms. This last one made me move so that I was sitting with my back to the headboard and I gently pull her up to lay against me. I wrap my arms around her waist and place my face in the crook of her neck and I place a small kiss where I had bitten her at. I could feel her soft pulse faintly from where I was touching her. _Ba - bump... ba - bump ... ba - bump ... ... ba - bump ... ... ba - bump ... ... ba...bump ... ... ba ... bump ... ... ba ... ... ... ..._

My head shot up when I could no longer felt the faint pulse like I once had. I brought my hand up and felt along her neck, nothing. I start to panic as I move to set her down and grab her wrist to feel for a pulse. Again I felt nothing. I felt like I was about to hyperventilate as I lie down and press my ear to my chest listening for a heartbeat. I block everything out and listened with all my might, I had my ear pressed tightly against her chest so as to block out any other sounds as well, and I wasn't breathing so that I didn't make any noise. I listened and listened and listen but after a few minutes I got nothing, not a single sound, not even of her breathing. "Carlisle!" I shouted as I began to panic. _'She can't be dead, she can't be dead, she can't be dead,_' I kept repeating over and over again in my head like a mantra.

Carlisle came running in followed shortly by the others. All of them had a scared expression on their face. "What's wrong Edward," Carlisle asked as he and the others gathered around the bed.

"Her heart stopped beating and she isn't breathing," I said. Carlisle took a stethoscope that he had on the table, though he didn't need it, and checked for a heartbeat and breathing as well as holding her wrist and feeling for a pulse there. He pulled away slowly and removed the stethoscope from his person. He looked at us shaking his head slowly side to side. The girls gasped and my brothers and mine eyes widened in shock. We stood there processing what he had said; Carrie was dead and not our type of dead since no changes has been made to her appearance and she isn't stone cold like us. I collapsed in the chair, eyes wide in shock and mouth agape. The thought of trying CPR never crossing my mind. The girls moved to their respective guys who wrapped their arms around them. _'She's ...dead, she can't be dead. There are so many things that I still have to tell her, to show her, to ask her, to do with her. She can't be dead, she can't be.'_ I thought to myself over and over, again and again, similar ones being thought by every one else in the room.

I'm not sure how long we stayed there like that but eventually the others turned to leave the room. Esme was thinking about all the arrangements that would have to be made. Carlisle and Jasper were thinking about what explanations they could give for this. I just sat there looking at the body of the one that I love with every fiber of my being. The one that I will never hold again, or hear her voice again, never to… never...

I slowly got up and sat on the edge of the bed and brought my hand up and slowly ran it along her face, tracing her jaw, softly running my thumb across her soft, cooling lips. I trace the scars that are upon her face and felt the thirst to shred the ones that did this to her to pieces, to make the people who took her away from me suffer so much that they will be begging me to end it. I force this feeling down as I look down upon her face for the last time. I lean down and placed one last kiss upon her lips, trying to savor the feel of them against mine, to ingrain it forever into my memory.

As I pull away I feel something tap against my leg as I go to stand up. I look down and see that it is Carrie's left hand that was lying closer to me than what it was earlier. I just brush it off thinking that it might have moved toward me when my weight pulled the bed down. I reach for it to place it next to her when I see it twitch. I freeze as I see this._ 'Why is it moving?_' As I watch it I see it twitch again. "Carlisle," I called out, my voice cracking slightly. They have not gotten too far away since they were moving rather slowly due to their grief. He and Esme had just walked through the door. They stop and turn around to look at me. "Her hand just twitched."

"I'm sure your just imagining it," he said. He thought that it was just my hopeful wishing that was making me see things.

"No, I'm not," I said, "look." I pointed to her hand which twitched a couple of more times.

"It's probably just her brain sending off some random signals as it shuts down," he said as he and the others moved slightly closer to the bed to see the twitching limb. I couldn't help the feeling that he was wrong as I slowly reached out for her hand.

*I'M NOT SURE HOW EXACTLY THIS WORKS OR IF THEIR HAS BEEN ANY REFERENCE TO THIS IN THE BOOKS, BUT IT IS HOW I HAVE IT WORK. SORRY IF IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE, I TRIED TO KEEP IT AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE.

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. GETTING CLOSE TO THE END AND I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A BUNCH MORE REVIEWS. IT WILL MAKE ME VERY HAPPY.


	34. Chapter 34

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

THANK YOU TO TRIFORCEANDSHEIKAHARTS, CIAMI, CHIQUIS, AND WAITINGANGELOFDEATH FOR REVIEWING SINCE THE LAST POSTING. CHIKA1345 - THIS WAS THE CHAPTER THAT YOU WERE GOING TO MAKE YOUR CAMEO BUT I JUST COULDN'T COME UP WITH ANYTHING GOOD. AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER THOUGH I WILL PUT THE ONLY IDEA THAT I HAD COME UP WITH WITH OUR ORIGINAL IDEA. BUT YOU ARE MENTIONED IN THE FINAL CHAPTER. ^_^ AND WHERE ARE YOU? I HAVEN'T HEARD FROM YOU IN LIKE FOREVER, WELL SINCE JUNE.

OH BTW I TRIED TO CREATE A FAN PAGE ON FACE BOOK, BUT IT DIDN'T WORK SO A CREATED A REGULAR OLD PAGE. NAME VALLEYGOAT HALE THOSE OF YOU WHOM I CHAT WITH ON YAHOO HAVE MY EMAIL. I WARN YOU I'M ADDICTED TO SORORITY LIFE SO IF YOU PLAY, JOIN MY HOUSE AND I WILL JOIN YOURS. LOL

**Chapter 34 The Final Awakening**

Carrie's POV

A stinging, burning sensation was all that I felt. I was aware of nothing else; no sounds or smells, but I could have sworn that I saw a flash of light. '_Impossible_,' I thought, _'I haven't seen anything in months and Edward is miles away back at home, waiting for my return. Poor Edward, he always seems to be waiting on me for everything. I hate having to make him wait.' _The new pain returns and I close my eyes tight and try not to scream out and the new sensations. I can feel myself falling, but why would I be falling for, did I trip or something. The last thing I remember was ... what was it? I remember hearing something loud and trash cans being knocked over. The pain in my chest intensifies which causes me to gasp. But why would I hurt, what could cause this new pain that seems familiar but new at the same time. I can feel myself falling. Why am I falling? I feel something wrap around me and my movement stops. I let out a gasp of pain as I stop moving and something wraps tighter around me.

"Carrie," I hear someone call from right next to me. It sounds familiar. Who is it? Their voice is really soothing. However the voice causes the pain to intensify and now my whole body hurts. Every single part of my body hurts, more than usual. The stabbing and burning in my chest intensifies. I gasp and reach up to clench the area that hurts the most. I feel something else pressed on an area that hurts as well. The pressure from the touch is uncomfortable so I try to move away from it, but I can't move. I feel as though I am frozen. How can I be frozen yet feel as though I'm burning at the same time? I can feel myself being lowered. I gasp in pan at the movement and I move to grab the thing that is pushing against one of the areas that hurt. It's cold and hard to the touch.

"Carrie, Carrie can you hear me," I hear someone ask, they sounded as if they were far away, and muffled. This voice is different from the first, but just as familiar. With a jolt of pain through my body, images start flashing through my mind. People of unnatural beauty and ... they sparkle. Along with the images everything comes back to me. My new family, my loved ones...going shopping with Bella...Howard! I remember Howard is here.

"…Carl...isle," I gasped, trying to speak, the sounds clearer with my memory returned. I feel someone place their hands on both sides of my face and something gently brushing my cheeks. I can feel that my sunglasses have been removed. "Ch…check on…Bella. She pushed me …out of the way….and…she got knocked into… the trash cans." _'Is she okay, nothing happened, did there? Is she hurt?' _

"Bella is fine Carrie, Alice is taking care of her," Carlisle said reassuringly. "Esme keep the pressure steady on this, Edward help me get some of these layers off so I can see the damage." I felt a change of hands and my coat being removed then placed under underneath my head and neck. I hear a ripping sound and felt a cold breeze come across my skin. I think I can hear rain falling which is proven when I feel a few cold drops hit me. I can hear it falling heavier farther away. It won't be long until it reaches where we are at. I felt something rub around the area that I hurt. I must have been hit by the second shot. I felt something press against what I guessed were the wounds which caused them to hurt more and I let out a cry of pain. I hear the person who was holding my head whisper reassurances. I can tell from the sound and from what I could smell that it was Esme.

Carlisle was on my left and Edward, who was holding my hand, was on my right.

I could hear someone else talking but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I felt something weird going on inside of my chest. It felt as though there was this weird pressure building. I felt something liquid like as I breathed. It caused me to choke so I coughed to try to get it out I felt something come up my throat and I tasted something salty and bitter in my mouth. I still felt whatever that it was but it wasn't as bad as before.

I could still hear people talking but I didn't pay much attention to it. I just hurt so much and it was getting harder for me to breathe. I started coughing again, but it just made my body hurt worse. So I tried to stop the coughing, but I still had trouble breathing and had the urge to cough. My body was arching with the force of trying to cough, which made me hurt worse.

I just hurt so much and I started to feel tired, my senses foggy. I was trying to resist, but sleep just sounded so good right now. I could feel my eye lids start to droop but I fought to keep them open, I couldn't go to sleep now. I was starting to feel cold and I could feel myself start to shiver. I felt moisture start to gather on my brow. What is going on? I heard someone to my right make a sound of frustration and heard them move. I felt something cold and wet start to fall on me and I flinched at the contact. It didn't take long for me to get wet. I felt the urge to cough again as I felt the water fall on my face and into my mouth and nose. I felt something move under my shoulders and my knees and I felt myself being lifted up. I can't tell a thing everything is just so hazy and fuzzy. The only thing that I can feel is the pain, the weird feeling in my chest and I could tell that I was shivering. I wasn't sure of anything else.

I could feel something being wrapped tightly around me and then it felt as though I was moving while being held tightly against something. I put my hand next to it and grabbed hold of it. I felt a pressure build up in my chest. I tried to cough to get rid of it, but it wasn't working. I felt my mind start to clear a bit as I tried to cough to get rid of the pressure. I felt something come up and out my mouth, but I still felt as though I was choking. I brought my hand up and clench at the area that felt as though it was being squeezed.

"Carrie, Carrie, babes, come on, what's wrong," I heard someone say. I identified the voice as Edwards.

"…I...I...can't...breathe," I managed to get out. The pressure was increasing making it difficult for me to speak and breathe. I could tell that I had been lowered to the ground.

"CARLISLE," I heard Edward begin to shout. He sounded so scared which caused me to start to feel the same. I have never heard him sound so scared. "CARLISLE ... CARLISLE ... Carlisle," he continued to shout while I fought to breathe.

"What's wrong," Carlisle asked as I heard him come up next to us.

"She can't breathe, it is almost as if she is choking," Edward said in a shaky voice.

I felt some hands moving around on me, checking my injuries and searching for the cause of my distress. "Her lung has collapsed. We need to try and relieve some of the pressure around it and hopefully it will inflate itself if the pressure is the only cause," Carlisle said after he took his hands away from my throat.

"But wouldn't the blood escaping into her body be the reason for the pressure," Edward asked and there was a pause. "But she has lost so much blood already, isn't there another cause?"

"Would you prefer she dies of exsanguination (hypovolemia, bleeding out), or asphyxiation (suffocation, being unable to breathe)," Carlisle asked in a hard tone.

"I prefer that she not die," Edward said. I felt myself being lowered so that I was leaning against someone. From what I could tell it was Esme whom I was leaning against again. I barely felt them remove whatever was around my form and them doing stuff to me. I was still struggling to breathe. I could faintly hear them argue about something but I couldn't hear them over the sounds of my labored breathing. My mind started to feel kind of fuzzy again as I gasped for air. I vaguely felt something cold and wet being placed around one of the wounds and a weird sensation occurred there. Whatever it was and doing it was relieving the pressure and I found it easier to breathe, but it still felt like I was drowning.

I could tell that those around me were arguing about something. It took me a little bit for me to realize what they were arguing about. "Gees...have some faith...in me at least. I've been in ... sticky situations before...and bounced back from them. I'm a survivor," I said as best as I could between coughs and wheezes.

"You do realize what we are talking about right," Carlisle asked as I felt someone, probably him, begin to re-bandage my wounds

"Of course... I'm blind, not deaf...Don't worry about the pain though...I'm not feeling much at this point in time," I said. And it was true; the pain had begun to fade some time ago. It felt nice to not to feel pain coarse through my body. I felt as though I was going numb. In the back of my mind I knew that this wasn't a good sign but it just felt so nice.

Everything else was a blur until I felt something similar to what I felt before clamp down on the juncture of my neck. I gasped in pain as I felt my skin tear and something so cold that it burned coursed through me from that point. I gasped in pain which caused whatever was in my body to go into my lungs. I coughed to get it out and I struggled to get away from whatever had a hold on my neck. The blissful numbness was slipping away to replaced by a more intense burning sensation. I felt my heart pound harder and I felt dizzy. I felt pressure on different parts of my body which prevented me from moving. The dizziness became too great so I stopped trying to escape and concentrated on my breathing.

Slowly I felt a warmness wrap around me. It felt familiar but I couldn't place it. I started to feel sleepy again but I fought against it. I didn't want to go to sleep yet, I couldn't fall asleep. _**Sleep my little one, sleep**__, _I heard a soft, motherly voice say in my head. Who was that? I never heard that voice before. _**Go to sleep child.**_ But I don't want to go to sleep. _**Sleep**__._ No Edward needs me, I can't go to sleep. What if I don't wake? _**Go to sleep now little one all will be well when you wake**__._ _But I ... don't want to ... go ... to ... sleep, _was my last thought as I felt a weight lifted off of me and a warmness embrace me.

It felt as though I was floating was the first thing that came to mind after what seemed like an eternity of absolutely nothing. I could feel something caress me along my form. I felt as though there was something different, but I didn't know what. I was just floating around; I couldn't tell which way was up or down, what was the sky what was the ground. I wasn't sure how long I floated around for but eventually I felt myself gently landing on something solid. After lying there for a while to make sure that I wasn't going anywhere I decided to check out the area that I was in. I moved my hands about and felt something tickle along my skin. It felt familiar, it felt like ... grass. I turn my head around and took a deep breath. The scent was fresh and calming and was that of grass. I concentrated on my other senses to learn about the area in which I was in. The ground that I was laying on was warm yet cool at the same time. I felt the warm sun shine down on me, warming my flesh, just to feel a cool, comforting wind breeze by. I could hear leaves rustling, birds chirping and water flowing nearby. It was then that I realized that I had my eyes closed tight, everything was just so bright. Wait bright? Where is the darkness?

Slowly and very hesitantly I opened my eyes. The light was so bright that I had to blink my eyes repeatedly and bring my arm up to block out the light. The light became tolerable and I could make out blurs. Eventually the blurs came into focus and I could see leaves and tree limbs moving in the breeze. My eyes widened in shock; I could see. I could see! I sat up very quickly at this realization. I slowly brought my hands up to my eyes. I could see my hands before my eyes. I felt around my face and I could feel smooth skin. Where were my scars? I pull my hands away and looked at them closely. They were very different; no longer did I have fat fingers but they looked long and slender, yet strong at the same time. My knuckles were no longer swollen and fat, the skin was smooth, flawless. There were no scars or bumps, even the fine hair was gone. I then looked around at the area that I was in. I was in a meadow like area. I was surrounded by tall grass with wildflowers scattered about. It was just so peaceful.

In panic I started to head towards the sound of running water. I kept tripping in my haste but I eventually came upon a stream and collapsed on my knees next to it. I hesitantly leaned forward so that I could see my reflection and I gasped at what I saw. I saw a beautiful face looking back at me. I looked over my shoulder to see if there was anyone behind me; there wasn't. I turned back to the reflection and studied the appearance. The face was slender, angular yet smooth and round at the same time. There were high cheek bones with a strong chin and jaw, full red lips, delicately arched brows, flawless skin. The most striking feature was the eyes. They were an intense, molten hazel. They appeared to be blue, brown, gray and green at the same time. I slowly brought my hand up to touch my face and saw that the same thing happened in the reflection. I touch my chin, cheek, lips which occurred in the reflection. I sat there wide eye, staring at the reflection. That can't be me. It couldn't possibly be me; the reflection was just too beautiful. The water rippled even though I didn't see anything touch it. I watched transfixed as the image that I knew myself to look like super imposed itself over the first image. The features matched up and slowly blended together to get the image from before.

My studying of the image was disrupted when something floated across my vision and my face. I grabbed the offending thing and yanked it out of my face. The yank however resulted in a pain in my head, as if I pulled my hair. I started at what I was holding in my hand and gave it a gentle tug resulting in a tugging sensation on my scalp again. It was my hair. This couldn't possibly be my hair either. It was too soft, too smooth and vibrant in color to be mine. When I went to gather it up in my hands I realized then how long it was. Judging by the way that it pooled around me it could easily reach my knees if I stood up.

I then began to look to see what other changes there were. I noticed that I was wearing a long white dress that also appeared to be a light tan in color at the same time. It seemed to be snug against my form yet flowed over it at the same time. The sleeves were long, covering most of my hands and reminded me a bit of bell sleeves. The collar was a v-neck that came drastically low and showed a bit of cleavage. '_Wait, cleavage?' _I never had cleavage before, I always been quite small when it came to that area. Apparently this body was very different than the one that I was used to. My chest was probably a C or D cup easy; I'm not sure, my waist was narrow, my stomach flat, wide hips. The muscles are tone and firm. I appeared to have a bit more muscle mass than before. I slowly stood to my feet and noticed that I felt taller than before with the new long, slender legs. _'What the heck is going on?'_

"_**You can say that this is the inner you**_," I heard a voice say, the same one as before.

"Who's there," I asked looking around frantically for the source of the voice.

"_**There is nothing to be scared of my child," **_the voice said again trying to bring me comfort.

"Then show yourself," I challenged. I heard a rustle of leaves and turned in that direction. Across the stream a large figure moved out of the foliage. When the light hit it I saw that it was a wolf. The fur was such a dark brown in color that it appeared to be black. The wolf moved so that it was sitting right across from me. Before I could say anything the wolf was engulfed in a bright light. I had to turn away because it was so bright. When the light faded I turned back around a woman was sitting in place of the wolf. She was a small woman in both size and height from what I could tell. She had dark brown with some streaks of gray hair that came down just a few inches past her shoulders. Her facial structure was similar to what I saw in the reflection, but there were some differences. Her cheek bones were higher, more prominent, but her cheeks looked sunken in. She just looked so tired and worn out yet she still exuded this air of confidence and strength. Despite this she still appeared to be beautiful in a different way. Her eyes were of a chocolate brown and had a light in them that screamed to me of sharp wit. She was wearing some brown pants and a long sleeved shirt that appeared to be made out of animal skins. She just sat there staring at me as I studied her. When I finished with my observations of her I could tell that I was had I look of confusion and curiosity on my face as I looked at her.

"Why don't you sit down so that we may speak to each other," she said softly motioning to the ground at my feet. I gave her an uncertain look as I slowly sank down to sit on my knees. "I'm sure you have some questions so I am here to explain some things to you."

"Who are you," I asked immediately.

"The name by which I was known in life was Sue, but here I am known as Broken Wing," she told me.

"What do you mean by that? Where are we," I asked not knowing what she meant by what she said.

"The place that you are currently in is the place known as the in between. Where I am at is the home of our ancestors. On Earth when I was alive my name was Sue. Here I go by my true name Broken Wing," she said.

"Why Broken Wing," I asked curious.

"In life I was involved in an accident that caused some damage to my arms, leaving them next to useless, thus the name was born," she said.

"What do you mean 'in life'? You're dead? Does that mean that I'm dead," I asked in panic.

"Yes I'm dead, but you have yet to make your decision, that is why you are on that side of the river," Broken Wing said.

"I'm so confused. There are so many questions I could ask. I have no idea but what you mean by home of our ancestors and the sides," I said desperately, holding my head in my hands, the questions buzzing around my head.

"Maybe this will clear things up," I heard her say.

I looked up and saw that she was pulling something out from underneath her shirt. I gasped when I saw the object that she was now holding in her hands. It was the pewter cross; the cross that I found long ago and kept in my possession and gave to Esme for Christmas. It was then that I realized that I had a warm feeling very similar to what I felt when I found the cross and when I first heard the voice was coming from this person. In fact now that I think about it the voices were very similar as well.

"That's my cross," I said pointing at the object around her neck.

"Indeed, but before this cross was yours it was mine. I just left it behind for you," she said. I just looked at her confused. "Carrie," my eyes widened when she said my name, "you are my daughter, and therefore that makes me your mother." she said out right. I could feel my jaw drop in shock. This woman was my mother! But…but… huh, what? "Yes my little one, I am your mother. I died giving you life and I have been here watching over you ever since then. I'm sorry for everything that you have had to go through. I knew that you were going to have a hard life, just not to the extent that I thought it would be."

"What," I asked even more confused and in disbelief.

"When I was pregnant and bought this necklace. Toward the end of the pregnancy I felt that I was going to be leaving shortly after your birth so I wished for a way to always watch over you. Unknowingly the last of my energy went into this necklace and I asked that it be given to you when I went into labor if I didn't make it. Of course it was never given to you so one day I let some of my energy out to call you to it, thus leading you to find it that day long ago. I have been watching over you since the day I left."

"You were the warm feeling that I felt whenever I held the cross," I said softly and she nodded.

"As much as I wanted to prevent you from going through that, in a way it was necessary. Everything that you have gone through has indeed made you stronger," she said.

"Why was it necessary?," I asked in confusion. Why would having such a terrible childhood, filled with pain and turmoil be necessary?

"To bring out the inner you, in more than one way," my mother said as she motioned to the stream.

I was confused by what she meant by that but I slowly leaned forward so that I could see my reflection. At first it was the same as before, but then a rippling occurred. Within the rippling I saw quick flashes of what appeared to be brown colored fur, tall twitching ears, a long snout with molten hazel eyes staring back at me. All too soon the rippling subsided and the brief images faded leaving behind a human reflection.

I sat back away from the river confused at what I had seen. _'What was that thing that I saw, I never got a good look at but I had a feeling deep down that I know what it was, that it was me somehow_.' "So why did I have to go through everything, why did I have to suffer," I asked serious trying to at least make sense of something.

"So that you would be able to live up to your namesake," she said. "Your name Carrie, means 'victory for/ of the people', you are to make things better. Your true name means the dawning of a new day, a new era, a better time," Broken Wing said.

"And just what is my true name," I asked after a pause, intrigued and more curious about what she was telling me.

"Morning Dove; though delicate sounding it is full of strength, power, courage, determination and hope," she said as she lifted her chin a little higher and sat a little straighter. Her eyes shining with … pride?

"So what exactly am I here for," I asked deciding to get to the chase sense a lot of this wasn't making sense.

"You are here for you need to make a decision. Before you is flows the water of life, similar to the River Styx in a way. It is through this water that I have been able to watch over you. The decision that you have to make is to stay on the side that you are on, to come to this side or to jump into the water. If you stay on your side, you stay alive, but if you jump into the water or cross to this side you die. Also if you jump into the river though, you can never return here. This is all that I can tell you, you must make the decision for yourself. The only other advice I can tell you is to follow your instincts, for they will never let you down and once you make your decision you will know everything that you will need to know," she said. With that there was a flash of light and my mother sat there in her wolf form before turning and leaving back the way that she came.

She left me even more confused than before as she walked away. '_I guess I'm on my own again._' I just sat there enjoying the scenery. Everything was just so peaceful here it is so nice here. I wish Edward was here to see this. Edward. I wonder how he is doing. Is he alright? Just then I hear something that has me turning toward the stream. I watch as it ripples to show my room. It is night time with the moon light streaming into the room. I see something on the bed and I lean forward to get a closer look. Surprisingly the vision moved closer, through the canopy to see the bed. I gasped at what I saw.

On the bed was Edward and he was … holding my body close to his. I was flush against him, my back to his chest. Edward had his arms wrapped tightly around me, his legs entangled with mine. His face was buried in the crook of my neck. What surprised me more though was that it appeared he had been crying? I thought the he couldn't cry. What happened next though had my heart breaking at the sight. Edward pulled me even tighter against him and placed kisses along my neck. I could see fresh tears fall from his eyes.

"Carrie," he whispered, "wake up, please wake up. I don't want to lose you, I need you. I love you. So please wake up please." After every sentenced he placed a kiss against my skin. It was so sad, he looked so … broken. I felt the tears run down my face creating ripples in the water which caused the image to go away. I sat back away from the stream, pulled my legs up to my chest and cried. I cried for Edward and what he must be feeling. I feel so bad for making him look that way.

I wasn't sure how long I stayed like that crying for Edward, but I was interrupted by a voice. _**'Time is running short. Have you decided?'**_ I looked up and saw my mother in wolf form sitting where she was what seemed like not that long ago.

"What do you mean time is running short? I haven't been here that long," I said confused while wiping the tears away.

'_**Here time has no meaning. However several days have passed back on Earth**_,' she said. Before I could question her there was a flash from the river and again I was looking down into my room. Everyone was in there and there seemed to be a sense of panic.

"Her heart stopped beating and she's not breathing," Edward said. His eyes were wide open in fright. Everyone had such a frightened look on their face. It was so sad to see; such strong individuals look so weak and frightened.

'_**What is your decision?'**_

"But I haven't given any thought to it," I said desperately.

'_**Make your choice**_,' was the command I was given. It was clear that there was a threat behind her words. It was then that I noticed that there were other animals gathered behind my mother. There were other wolves, foxes, deer, large cats, rats. You name it, it was there. I looked at the reflection again. The Cullen's, my family, were gathered around my bed. They all seemed to be devastated; the girls looked close to tears. But Edward, he looked so lost and alone, so broken like he had lost everything.

'_**What is your decision?' **_I looked up at my mother as she stared at me with those hard brown eyes. My face tightened in determination and without a second thought I jumped head first into the water. I was floating in the water sinking deeper and deeper. What I had seen in the water was getting closer and closer but started to fade as everything got darker. I watched as everyone except for Edward moved slowly to leave the room. I continued sinking until they were 'above' me and I was looking up at them, lying on my back below my body. _**'Contact must be made I will do the rest**_.'I brought my left hand up and reached toward Edward. I couldn't reach him. How can I make contact with him if I couldn't reach him and he's getting farther and farther away. I reached harder, trying to claw my way up higher, fighting against the tug that was pulling me down and farther away from everything I held dear. '_Come on reach_,' I thought. I saw my hand twitch. Ah ha! '_Now come on, grab it, reach, reach!_' My hand continued to twitch. I noticed that Edward noticed the twitching limb and his hand was reaching toward mine. '_Yes, that's it Eddie, just grab my hand_.' Edward's hand came in contact with mine and I felt myself being pulled up in a flash of light.

I was thirsty. That was the only thought that was running through my mind currently. I'm so thirsty, my throat and mouth are so dry and parched, it burned. My stomach hurt so much. I slowly sat up and wrapped my arms around my middle. It hurts. I'm thirsty. Why does it hurt so much? Why am I so thirsty? I felt something touch my shoulder and I moved quickly away from it. Where was I? I don't remember anything? I don't remember anything because I'm so thirsty. I could hear voices but I was just too thirsty. My throat is burning. I feel something touch me again and I took off running after giving a sound of warning. I need something for my thirst. I take a deep breath but couldn't distinguish what I could smell so I ran.

Something jumped me and I fell to the ground. I looked up to see an attractive male looking at me in worry while crouched down close to the ground. I slowly got up and took up a similar pose. I growled at the male to leave me alone and tried to leave. I just got slammed into a nearby tree. Their body was pinning mine tightly to the tree, my hands were held above my head in a tight grip by the wrists. I could hear the male say something but I couldn't make it out as I fought to get free. I struggled but the grip was just too tight, my thirst too prevalent to properly fight back. Something deep inside me told me to submit to this strong male. I took a deep breath and took in his delicious scent. It was just so mouth watering. It seemed familiar but I couldn't place it. I continued to struggle but he held tight. He began to growl disapprovingly as I tried to escape. I tried one last time but it didn't work so with a small whimper I tilted my head back to expose my throat to the male, showing my submission to him. I heard him make a pleased growl as I felt him lean forward and placed his mouth along my jugular. He took in my scent as he moved to the side of my neck before he bit into it. Before I could stop myself I moved and bit into the side of his neck as well. I felt him stiffen in shock but he didn't pull away. I felt his blood pool into my mouth and I swallowed it without another thought. I felt the male do the same to me.*

I sensed others come close to us and I let out a growl in warning. I felt the others stop their movement. The male pulled away while making a sound that comforted me. He kept his grip on my wrists tight as he pulled away from me. I felt him pull me away from the tree and I moved slowly and unsure toward him since I really had no choice in the matter. I heard one of the others that were near us saying something. It was male if the voice was anything to go by. The male that had a hold of me said something in return but I just moved closer to him and get a better smell of his scent. It just smelled so pleasing. There was sweetness to it that wasn't there before. I looked to where the sweet scent was coming from and saw that he was bleeding. I slowly stood on my tips toes and took a tentative lick of the substance. It was so delicious. The male stiffen at my actions but made no move to stop my actions so I continued to lick what I could reach.

I jumped when there were a couple of loud thumping sounds from right next to us. I made a sound of displeasure towards the direction of the noise while trying to pull away from the hard grip. I saw two males standing next to two dead animals. One was large and well muscled; the other one was lean but toned. They were both very pleasing when it came to looks as well. The male holding me said something to them and they leaned down over the animals and proceeded to rip open their flesh. I was bombarded with the scent of the blood. I felt my thirst come back and felt my mouth fill with a sweet tasting liquid which I quickly swallowed. The male pulled me toward the source of the blood. When we were next to them I was pulled down to my knees. The male leaned forward and licked the area where he bit me just a short time ago. He pulled away and placed his mouth next to my ear. "Drink," he commanded with a small growl as he released and turned me toward the blood. I leaned down to do what my mate had commanded me to do.

*I KNOW THAT THEY ARE ACTING KIND OF ANIMAL LIKE, BUT CARRIE IS RUNNING MORE ON INSTINCT AT THE MOMENT BECAUSE THE CHANGE WAS SO SUDDEN THAT HER MIND HASN'T QUITE CAUGHT UP YET, HER THIRST AND OTHER BASER INSTINCTS ARE GUIDING HER. EDWARD STARTS TO ACT SIMILARLY BECAUSE HE TOO IS IN NEED OF A FEED SINCE HE HAS REFUSED TO LEAVE CARRIE'S SIDE SINCE THE FIRST TIME. HIS THIRST AND CARRIE'S ACTIONS SPEAK TO HIS INSTINCTS, BRINGING THEM OUT.

EDWARD SMELLS GOOD TO CARRIE BECAUSE IF THEIR ROLES WERE REVERSED, EDWARD HUMAN AND CARRIE VAMPIRE, HIS BLOOD WOULD PROBABLY SING TO HER.

THE BLOOD IN EDWARDS SYSTEM IS FROM WHEN HE FEEDS. IN MY VERSION IT JUST DOESN'T JUST GO TO HIS STOMACH BUT IS ASLO SLOWLY ABSORBED TO THE REST OF HIS BODY. THE BLOOD IN CARRIE'S BODY IS FROM WHAT WAS ORIGNALLY LEFT OVER THAT HASN'T BEEN USED BY THE NEW BODY YET.

THE BITTING IS A WAY OF STAKING CLAIM, LETTING OTHERS KNOW THAT ONE IS TAKEN. KIND OF ANIMAL LIKE AGAIN I KNOW BUT I SOME HOW THOUGHT THAT IT WAS APPROPRIATE.

HERE IS THE IDEA I HAD FOR CHIKA1345'S CAMEO

'_**What is your decision?'**_

"But I haven't given any thought to it," I said desperately.

Suddenly through the trees a small brown blurs darts out and heads straight toward me. I thought that it was going to tackle me but it came to a screeching stop right at the edge of the river, kicking up a cloud of dust. When the said dust settled I was surprised to see, not a torpedo, but a dachound. Said dachound was sitting straight and tall, had a brindle colored coat and large, wide expressive dark brown eyes. It was even sporting a doggish grin. I hear a constant thumping sound and see that it is being caused by its quite rapidly wagging tail.

"Carrie! I'm so glad that you are finally here!," the dog exclaimed, with a feminine voice while it starte to jump up and down in excitement.

"Chika, what are you doing here? You should be back with the others," Sue said with a sigh, already looking tired with the dogs antics.

"But Aunt Sue, I've been waiting for like ever for Carrie to finally ger here." the little weiner dog said with a small pout as she hung her head. Then she snapped her head back to me and started to 'prance' side to side as she started to speak to me, the speed increasing more and more with her excitement. "Oh we are going to have so much fun cousin. There is so much here that we can do. We can run around all day, scare our opussum cousins so they play dead, chase our rat cousins ...' she began to say as she started to run in a big circle. But soon her speech was coming out so fast, that I couldn't understand her, and she was running so fast that she noting but a blur and it looked like there was a whole, floating circle next to my mother.

I heard my mother sigh in exasperation and I turn my attention to her and see her slowly shaking her head side to side.

"Hyperactive little thing isn't she," I asked both in amusment of her antics and my mothers reaction and a little on the curious and unsure side since this whole situation still doesn't make much sense to me.

"That she is," my mother sighed in answer. She turned so that she was facing the quickly movinf blur more and slowly held one of her paws up. The hyperactive little dachound was unaware of it as she contimued to run around in her little circle rattling on about all of the things that we could do together.

Then quick as lightening, my mother darted her paw down, and mangaged to pin chikas tail to the ground, her rapid movement stilled.

"Ouch! What did you do that for Aunt Sue?," chika asked as she tries to moved away put is still pinned down by her tail.

"To get you to stop." My mother responded in a raised tone. "Carrie has yet to make her decision, and right now precious time is being wasted with your antics. Now get back there with the rest of the family, if she decides to cross, then you may talk to her, but not not. and no buts about it understood?" my mother added at the end when she saw that chika was about to object.

"Fine,' chika said with a small whine as mother rleased her tail. Then slowly, very slowly, the slowest I have ever seen her move chika dejectively, head and tail hung down low, walked back to the forest and disappeared into the underbrush. I was silent as I tried to process what just happened.

'_**Make your choice**_,' was the command I was given. It was clear that there was a threat behind her words. It was then that I noticed that there were other animals gathered behind my mother. There were other wolves, foxes, deer, large cats, rats. You name it, it was there. I looked at the reflection again. The Cullen's, my family, were gathered around my bed. They all seemed to be devastated; the girls looked close to tears. But Edward, he looked so lost and alone, so broken like he had lost everything.

'_**What is your decision?' **_I looked up at my mother as she stared at me with those hard brown eyes. My face tightened in determination and without a second thought I jumped head first into the water.


	35. Chapter 35

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

**Chapter 35 Answers**

Edward's POV

I was slowly reaching toward Carrie's hand. I actually stopped because I was so hesitant. What if Carlisle was right? I would be getting my hopes up for nothing, but I still couldn't help the feeling that I had, that I should, touch her hand. Ever so slowly my hand got closer and closer to hers until mine was hovering right above hers, then I wrapped my fingers around her hand. As soon as my skin came into contact with hers she was surrounded by a bright light. I had to turn away because the light was so bright, but as quickly as it came it was gone. I turned to look back and was in shock at what I saw. Carrie was sitting up in the bed her mouth wide open in a gasp, but she looked so different. Her skin tone matched ours, she looked not as skinny from starvation as before but she was more slender looking. She looked completely different. I just couldn't describe it because it was so different from before. She just looked even more beautiful, like the beauty I had seen each time I had looked into her eyes. Speaking of that, they were clenched shut tightly. I heard the others gasp as well as they saw what had been left behind by the light.

"Carrie," I whispered softly as I reached toward her shoulder. As soon as my hand came into contact she disappeared. She soon reappeared in the corner of the room, her hands up as if to keep something away. I also noticed then that her hair has become quite long, around her knees in length and she was taller, probably closer to 5'9". "Carrie?"

"Easy Edward, she is not too sure of anything right now. She's a newborn, remember that," Carlisle said as he moved closer to Carrie while Jasper and I did the same.

"Alright Edward you want to move to her slowly, you don't want to startle her. She is not in her right mind right now," Jasper said quietly as he kept an eye on Carrie. I looked toward her again and noticed that her arms were now wrapped tightly around her middle as if she was in pain and her eyes were still squeezed shut. I slowly continued to move closer to her with Carlisle and Jasper behind me, but she didn't seem to be aware of us. Her thirst is probably too dominant at the moment. I slowly approached her and when I was close enough I reached my hand out to grab her arm, but as soon as my hand came into contact with her arm she took off running.

I followed after her quickly. It took me no time at all to catch up with her with my speed; she was only about a hundred feet into the woods surrounding the house. I quickly ran next to her and went to tackle her but ended up shoving her to the ground instead. When she got up she looked in my direction with a snarl on her face; her eyes a bright blood red that were darkening every moment, expressing her extreme hunger. I was just looking at her in worry for she was so far gone. I was really thirsty as well since I haven't had a drink since that first night. Carlisle has expressed concerns about that since he mentioned that my eyes were black in color. I just said that I wouldn't leave Carrie's side and would feed when she was better.

I noticed that she was about to try and run again but I managed to cut her off before she got too far. I grabbed hold of her and slammed her into a nearby tree. I held her body against it with my own. I grabbed hold of her wrists tightly and held them above her head. "Come on Carrie, snap out of it you're stronger than this," I said to her. I could tell that she couldn't understand what I was saying to her and I could feel my self control slipping as well. Her scent was just so much more tantalizing now. I thought her scent was pleasing before, but now it is just divine without the scent of death clingling to her as it does slightly with a living beings. Now it was that of a pure, untouched, unpolluted forest. Carrie just continued to struggle and I let out a growl to get her to settle down. She continued to try to fight against me but I just voiced my displeasure at her actions. She eventually calmed down and bared her neck to me with a whimper. I leaned forward and took in her scent while letting her know that I was pleased with her actions, though in the back of my mind I was unsure of why I was doing what I was doing. Before I could stop myself though I found myself biting her neck where I had earlier, marking her as mine. I was brought out of my haze though when I felt her do the same along side of my neck, but I didn't pull away as she drunk some of my blood. In fact it seemed to calm her down.

I could tell that the others were coming so I pulled away and Carrie did as well while licking her lips clean of blood and I did the same with mine. Surprisingly the blood didn't disgust me this time like it did before when I first bit her. I backed away from the tree pulling Carrie along with me. The others came to a stop about twenty feet away. "Is she alright Edward," Carlisle asked me.

"She'll be fine. Somebody go get two large deer and bring them here," I told them while keeping my eyes on Carrie and a tight hold on her wrists. I could tell that Emmett and Jasper left since they are the two of the better hunters. Carrie just moved closer and I heard her take deep breaths taking in my scent. She still seemed to find comfort in my scent. I watched as she moved to stand on her tip toes and I stiffened when I felt her tongue come in contact with my skin. It dawned on me then that she did in fact bite me and I was bleeding and she was cleaning up the blood. I just watched as she stood there with her eyes closed cleaning up the blood. I saw that she was bleeding as well but I didn't move to clean it up. I had to take care of her thirst first, these actions are not truely hers and I needed to get the one I loved to come back to me, and in order to that I need to first get the beast in her now to calm.

Jasper and Emmett soon returned and dropped the deer at their feet where they stood half way between us and the others. Carrie jumped a bit at the sound and hissed at displeasure at them. I turned toward them slightly and said, "Get the smell of the blood in the air; we need to get her to drink." I heard the sound of flesh tearing and I could smell the blood coming from them. Carrie could as well as she began to sniff the air. I slowly lead her over to the deer and forced her to her knees by getting down on mine. I leaned forward and licked the bite wound to get her attention. When I was sure I had it I moved so that my mouth was next to her ear. "Drink," I commanded her as I moved her closer to the blood. I knew that in this state right now she had to do what I said since I have bit her as mine, my mate. Part of me was slightly disgusted at what i did and what she and the others woudl think but that wasn't my priority right now. I watched as she leaned down and began to feed before I moved to do the same with my deer. With this being her first feed I made sure that she got the larger deer. The entire time we were feeding me and the others kept a close eye on her but remained silent so as to not scare Carrie.

I pulled away when I was finished and watched as Carrie continued to suck the deer dry. When she pulled away she kept her head bowed so that I couldn't see her expression. We watched silently as she slowly brought her hands up and buried them in her hair next to her temples. I could hear her thoughts begin to bounce around in her mind questing what was going on, she was starting to come back to herself. Before any of us ask what was wrong she let out a gasp and clenched her hands into fists.

"Carrie, what's wrong," I asked as I wrapped my arms around her.

"My head hurts," she managed to say in a harsh whisper.

"Carlisle," I said as I turned toward him.

He came over and took the pen light out of his pocket and examined her eyes. When the light hit her eyes she closed her eyes and tried to move away from the light. Carlisle stood up with a sigh. I looked up at him questionably as I pulled Carrie closer to my chest. "My guess is that the last bit of the venom is getting to work, making its final changes to her form. That, and from her reaction to the light just now, she is getting use to seeing again. Let's get her home, she'll be more comfortable there," he said. He turned around and headed toward home the others following him. I scooped Carrie up in my arms and picked up the rear. I could hear the thoughts of how relieved the others are. They are glad that Carrie is alright and the transformation was a success. Esme was happy that she still had her new daughter. Carlisle was astounded that Carrie seemed to defy all odds and survived with how seriously she was wounded. Emmett was happy that his little sister is out of the woods. Alice was looking forward to the next shopping trip to clothe Carrie's new body. Rosalie was surprised at Carrie's looks. Jasper was quiet as always, but he was thinking of ways to help Carrie with her new form and trying to come up with ways that all of this could be explained with others. I didn't care about all of that, I was just so glad that I am able to hold her in my arms again. Best of all I get the chance to spend all eternity together now. With this thought a grin spread across my face and I placed a kiss on Carrie's head. She was still in pain but it doesn't seem to be as bad as before.

We arrived at the house and we all headed to our respective rooms, so to speak. Esme and Carlisle headed to their room, Rosalie went with Emmett to his room and Alice walked hand in hand with Jasper into his. I carried Carrie into her room and placed her on the bed. I left her just to close the door and I came back and crawled into bed behind her. I wrapped my arms around her like I have done a lot as of late and pulled her as close to me as I could get. Her hands were still clenched in her hair so I brought my hands up and gently removed her hands from her person. When her hands were removed her fingers interlaced with my own as she snuggled deeper against me. It's astounding how well we fit together now. We fit together before but now we are a perfect match. She must have gained at least three inches to her height. I brush all these thought to the side though as I held her to me and I settled in for a decent night of rest; the first in a long time.*

For the rest of the week and the week after none of us went to school. A couple of days later Carrie's pain stopped. She was 'knocked for a loop' she said when she opened her eyes and saw that she could see. She was astounded at the way that she could see everything so vibrantly and in great detail. The rest of the time we were getting her use to being a vampire. Teaching her to hunt, things like that. A big test came though when Bella made and unannounced and surprisingly unforeseen visit.

We were all just sitting in the living room and the girls were taking their turn of coddling Carrie…again. Esme was sitting in the middle of a sofa with Carrie on her right who was lying across her lap. Alice was on the other side of Carrie, holding her legs and Rosalie was on the other side of Esme playing with Carrie's hair.

"I still can't believe you cut your hair. It was so gorgeous and long," Rosalie said as she was making a small braid.

"Well you try having hair that long. It gets annoying after a while and it kept getting in the way and I kept sitting on it," Carrie said. Two days after her headache was gone and after a little hunting trip we came home and Carrie was complaining about how often her hair got entangled in the bushes and everything. Well after she had a shower to clean up a bit she grabbed a pair of scissors, walked up to Esme and demanded that she cut her hair. At first Esme was unwilling to since she had fallen in love with the new locks. But after Carrie threatened to hack it off herself, Esme, with a heavy heart cut Carrie's hair so that it reached her hips like before. "And besides it was difficult to wash also; it took twice as much shampoo and conditioner than before. After that you three formed a line behind me just to comb it out. Besides my hair is still longer than yours," she said with a small laugh. Rosalie retaliated my giving a sharp tug on the braid that she was working on, getting an 'owe' out of Carrie., not that it really hurt her or anything.

"Now behave children," Esme said as she ran her fingers through a small portion of hair that was in her lap. Just then the door bell rang which had us looking at each other in confusion. We all looked toward Alice to see if she knew who could be at the door but she shook her head in the negative. For some reason none of us could tell who was at the door. Carlisle and Esme got up and headed toward the door to answer it. The rest of us stood up in the living room to be prepared for anything. I went over to Carrie and wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly to me. She hasn't had any experience with people yet in this form so we are not sure how she will react. Carrie just leaned back against me and waited like the rest of us.

"Ah Bella, what a surprise; we weren't expecting you to be dropping by," we heard Carlisle say from the front door. We all started to panic then. Bella has the most tempting scent that we have ever encountered. It wouldn't be good if Carrie got a whiff of it, she'll probably end up in a frenzy. Our forms started to stiffen as Bella's scent reached our noses. We all looked to Carrie and were surprised when she looked as calm as ever.

"Well I wanted to know how Carrie is doing. I haven't seen her around lately and I heard that she and all of you were gone for her surgery. Well I got curious so I came up here to check it out. So there must be another reason for why she and the others aren't at school," Bella said.

"I thought as much, but I don't really think that it is a good idea at the moment Bella, for your own safety," Carlisle said quietly with slight pleading.

"It's okay Carlisle," Rosalie called out, "nothing seems to be happening." We heard a set of heels coming in our direction. Esme came around the corner looking at us curiously. We just looked toward Carrie who was still as calm as before, watching as speck of dust as it flew through the sunlight.

"They're right Carlisle," Esme called back.

We heard Carlisle say, "Alright but just be careful." I could now hear the confusion of Jacob's thoughts at Carlisle's actions. I could hear as they slowly and hesitantly came to the living room. With each step that they took Bella's scent came closer and closer but Carrie still showed no signs of being affected by it.

When they finally made their appearance Carrie finally turned her attention toward Bella and Jacob. "Hi Bella, how's it going," she said with a smile. She would have waved but my arms around her prevented that.

Bella gasped, bringing her hands up to her mouth, when she turned to who spoke. "Carrie? Is that you," she asked.

"Yep, it's me. I look pretty different huh," she said with a smile. Carrie is more carefree now after her transformation; she acts a bit more like Alice but not drastically so. She said that she was acting the way because she was so happy that the pain was finally gone. "Who's the guy with you," she asked in confusion as she tilted her head to the right slightly.

"This is Jake, you've met him before," Bella said confused.

"Well I may have met him, but I don't remember what he looked like," Carrie said a bit defensively. Of course she would have a hard time putting a name with the face even if she remembered the name, Jacobs' appearance has changed drastically with the awakening of his werewolf blood. Carrie then looked Jacob over then said with a small giggle, "Alice was right, he is cute." Jacob stiffened and blushed at her words. I stiffened as well, shocked at what she said. I tightened my arms around her more while giving a look to Alice and Carrie leaned into me more with a small sigh that only I heard.

"You can see now? The surgery worked," Bella said excitedly.

"There was no surgery," Rosalie said crossing her arms.

"It came back on its own." Bella asked confused.

"Think about it," Rosalie snapped. "Her vision is back and her appearance has drastically changed and there is no evidence of her scars. What could cause that?"

Bella looked at her confused before she turned back and looked over Carrie again. "You changed her," Jacob said pulling Bella closer to him protectively, his body tensing, ready for anything. We all nodded.

"Why, when," Bella asked quietly.

"The same day she was shot. She was dying so Edward bit her. The stress was so much that she slipped unconscious. Carrie was in a coma like state for eight days before she died," Carlisle explained.

"You mean became one of you type of die, right," Bella asked.

"No I actually died, or a part of me died at least," Carrie said adding her bit to the conversation about her.

"What do you mean by that," Jacob asked confused, as was everyone else.

'_**I think I'll explain that one,**_' I heard a voice call. The others must have heard it as well for they were looking around for the cause of it. Our attention was drawn to Esme as she let out a gasp. The cross that Carrie had given her for Christmas, which she has worn since that day, was glowing and floating a bit away from her. A flash of light shot from the necklace to the center of the room; When the light was gone a ghostly form of a wolf was left behind. We were all suddenly on defensive at the wolf's sudden appearance. The wolf did not appear to be startled as it sat there looking us over.

"Broken Wing," Carrie said from behind me. I had placed her there when I saw that the cross was glowing.

'_**Morning Dove, my child,' **_the wolf said as it bowed its head in acknowledgment toward Carrie.

"Who are you and what are you doing here," Jacob shouted. He was standing protectively in front of Bella. Alice was now standing next to him as well, but he didn't seem to notice as he kept his attention on the strange wolf. Jasper of course was standing near Alice but his thoughts so far was that the wolf wasn't there to cause any harm like it had said, it's emotions calm and peaceful.

'_**As Morning Dove and myself have said, my name is Broken Wing, but you can call me Sue for that is what I was called when I was alive, and I am here to answer your questions,' **_the wolf, Broken Wing, said.

"Who is this Morning Dove of which you speak," Carlisle asked confused like all the others at this strange phenomenon, but still trying to be a voice of calm and reason as he stood a few steps in front of Esme.

"It is me," Carrie said as she stepped out from around me. I moved to stop her but she avoided my grasp.

"You know this wolf," Emmett asked with a small growl like sound. He was slightly crouched down, arms and legs slightly spread, standing protectively in front of Rosalie whom was standing tense directly behind him.

"Of course I do, she's my mother," Carrie said as she sat down a few feet away from the wolf. We all gasped at that, especially Esme.

'_**Perhaps if you all have a seat I will explain,**_' the wolf, now known as Carrie's mother said as she motioned with her paw to the ground. We all looked to each other hesitant to do so, but with Carrie's encouragement we formed a circle, sitting right where we were standing. I took a seat next to Carrie, after picking her up and placing her a bit farther from the strange ghost like wolf and held her close to my side and held her hand with the other. The others still looked to be on edge but they seemed somewhat eager to hear what the she wolf had to say.

'_**I think I'll start from the beginning. My grandmother, Carrie's great-grandmother, was the last of her family, the Swift Water clan and of the Running Horse branch. The family like Jacob had the ability to take on the form of their inner animal. Mine is what you see before you, Carrie's is much the same,' **_the she wolf said.**

"You're a wolf," Bella asked Carrie, interrupting Broken Wing.

"Yeah I guess. I didn't really get a clear look at my animal self, but I have a feeling that I was cute though." Carrie said as she placed her head against my shoulder. Broken Wing lifted one of her paws and pointed it toward Carrie. A ball of light flew from it and to Carrie in the time that it took for me to blink. Carrie was engulfed in light and when it died down a beautiful wolf was in her place. The wolf, Carrie, looked vastly different from her mother. Instead of having dark brown fur, Carrie's was closer to a reddish brown. And despite her being a wolf her scent stayed the same and it didn't repulse me like the regular werewolf scents. As I looked over her new form I couldn't help but think…

"Wow, you kind of look like Jacob in his wolf form," Bella said.

'_**Really'**_, came Carrie's voice from the wolf which had its head tilted to the side. Before anything could be said Jacob was surrounded by light as well and when it disappeared there was Jake in his wolf form. Carrie got up from my side and went over to look at Jacob. He too came forward to check her out after the confusion of his sudden and different change. It was true they did look sort of alike but Carrie's fur was a little less red and more brown tones than his. They still looked enough alike however that they could pass as litter mates if they were actual wolves. They stood in the middle staring at each other. Carrie sat down on her haunches and tilted her head to the left. '_**Wow you're big**_.' It was true; Carrie was the size of a normal wolf while Jacob was somewhere between the size of a bear and a horse. Jacob lifted one of his massive paws and placed it on top of Carrie's head. Carrie just shook the paw off, moved back and took up a position that reminded me of a puppy that wanted to play; front end close to the ground, rear end up. Her tail was even wagging.

Her tail seemed to grab her attention as she stood up fully and turned her head around to look behind her. She seemed fascinated as she watched it wag. '_**Should I or shouldn't I**_,' was the thought we heard. I was wondering what she meant by that when she did a wolfish shrug and proceeded … to chase her tail; It was quite entertaining to see her running in circles trying to catch her tail. I noticed that her mother and Jacob just shook their heads in embarrassment at her actions. Rosalie and I were slightly embarrassed as well while the others were enjoying the spectacle that she was creating. Carrie stopped though when her feet slipped out from underneath her and she fell to the floor.

"She's so cute," Alice gushed. Carrie's ears perked up at her words and slowly crawled her way over to Alice on her stomach, who proceeded to pet her. Jacob just moved back over and sat next to Bella. He was soon engulfed in light again and when it was gone he was once again in his human form and he was relieved that his clothes didn't rip to shreds when he changed. Carrie just slowly moved person to person and cuddled next to them for a little bit. Alice, Rosalie and Esme petted her ears. Carlisle just seemed fascinated at her appearance. Jasper scratched her lightly on the shoulder, which caused her back leg to twitch like mad and her tail to wag. Emmett pulled on her wagging tail. Carrie turned around and playfully snapped at him. I even took a turn and petted her.

Carrie was currently curled up in Esme's lap who was softly petting her fur. '_**See I told you I was cute,'**_ Carrie said as she released what I would consider a purr at the attention she was getting from Esme.

"I guess, if you call that cute," I said as I turned my head away and crossed my arms across my chest.

'_**Why you,**_' Carrie said as she got out of Esme's lap. When she was standing she then proceeded to run towards me. When she got close enough she jumped at me. When all of her feet left the ground she was surrounded by a ball of light which collided into me, knocking me on my back. When the light faded, there was Carrie laying on my chest looking down on me. "See, I told you that I would pounce on you someday."

"I see that," I said as I wrapped my arms around her. '_You should have told me sooner that you liked it on top,_' was the thought that I sent her. Somehow she still managed to blush bright red. "Now that is cute."

'_**As amusing as it is to watch her interact with my daughter I still have much to explain**_,' the she wolf said. Carrie and I sat up but I didn't let her get too far away from me. I just sat up with my arms still around her so she ended up in my lap. I just allowed her enough room to move so that she could turn around and face the others and not me.

'_**As I was saying our ancestors had the ability to take the form of their inner animal. Carrie's great-grandmother was the last one with this ability. Most of the family was killed off long ago due to prejudice and people wanting their land, while those that remained slowly died off until the clan was no more. My father and myself have received certain gifts, if you want to call them that, from our blood**_,' she said.

"What was your gift," Carlisle asked.

"Her gift is kind of like Alice's and a bit like Jasper's combined. Instead of seeing the future like Alice can, she can feel it so to speak," Carrie explained.

'_**This is true, but perhaps an example would be better. When I was around thirty years of age I received a rush of emotions that had me feeling motherly. The next day I went out and bought that cross that you are wearing around your neck**_," Sue said as she motioned to the cross Esme was wearing. Esme brought her hand up and grabbed hold of said object. '_**Sure enough two months later I became pregnant with Morning Dove.'**_

'_**However when I was seven months pregnant I felt that I was not long for this world. So the day of her birth I put some of the last of my energy into that necklace and made my wishes known for it to be given to Carrie when she was older. The necklace was never given to her and I watched from the home of our ancestors as she had to fend for herself by the time that she could crawl. One day while she was left alone I called her to the necklace. She found it and it has been in her possession ever since them until she gave it to you matriarch, Esme.'**_

"So you have been watching over her since you died," Esme asked as she pulled away a little from Carlilse to lean a littler closer to the spirit wolf.

'_**I have. I sat next to the stream of life and watched as she struggled to live. I cried when she could not and when she was in really bad shape I would allow a small bit of my energy to be released in order to comfort her**_,' Broken Wing said with a nod of her head.

"Then you must know the reason for why she was treated so harshly," I said as I tightened my grip around Carrie. She sensing my discomfort turned around and placed a kiss on my jaw and lightly squeezed the arms that were holding her.

'_**I do. It was written in the stars that she would live a harsh life in order to prepare her for what was to come, but her family's reasons were more personal. My sister and her children are just naturally sadistic and her father was upset that she wasn't a boy. His mother left behind a large sum of money to him when she passed, but he could only get it if his first born was a son. Thom wanted a son anyways to pass on the family name and he thought daughters were useless as well before the money came into the equation, but they were that way to her due to their greed and laziness**_,' she explained sadly.

"What did you mean by 'it was written in the stars' for Carrie to have a harsh life," Emmett asked.

'_**As I have explained Carrie is descended from shape shifters, even though the original blood is diluted, it flows very strongly in her veins. Her hardships are what strengthened her blood. It was unlocked so to speak with her near death experience this past winter. Without that blood she would have died. That near death experience fully awakened the blood in her veins in a manner of speaking**_,' Sue paused before she continued.

'_**It was done so she could fulfill the destiny laid out before her. Her name Carrie means victory for the people/ victory of the people. Her true name Morning Dove means a new beginning, a better, brighter future, and things like this. All her life she has been living in stealth which is her natural born gift but over all her gift is that of survival. And she was sent here to help you as much as she was for all of you to help her. An example of the stealth is when people could see her but not acknowledge her and the way that you could not see her through other people when you used your gift.' **_she said looking to me.

"She is the one I saw coming all that time ago," Alice said, which was confirmed with a nod of the wolf's head. We had all forgotten about that vision, we were too worried about Carrie.

'_**Now to discuss the consequences of the decision you made in the meadow,**_" the wolf said as it turned to fully face Carrie._** "You were given three choices: to stay on the side that you were on, jump in the river, or to cross over to the side that I was on. If you stayed on the side you were on you would either had been allowed to come back and live a pain filled life as a human for a few decades until the pain became too much for you to handle and you died either by suicide or your body finally giving out or died and stayed there for all eternity. To cross over you would have died and taken on your wolf form and lived with our ancestors. To jump into the river you would have died and never be given a chance to return to paradise, to give up on that part of your life forever**_,' Broken Wing said.

"As I told you before I didn't give it any thought. I just saw how everyone looked so sad and couldn't stand it. When I saw how hard Edward took to me dying, I felt my heart shatter and I just jumped into the river without another thought," Carrie said.

'_**Thus you took on your current state**_,' she said. _**'Now you I must inform you of the decision made by the others. Usually what you did is frowned upon, but you did it out of concern for others and not yourself. Therefore you will be allowed to keep your previous gift, which allowed you to be 'looked over' by others. In addition you will be allowed to have the gift of illusions which you get from your fox relatives with the knowledge of how to use it.'**_

Carrie's form started to glow as Sue finished speaking. While Carrie was still glowing she began to speak again. _**'Along with this I am to give you two gifts. One is a spell that will allow you and your vampire family to sleep, yes I said sleep. However this spell can only be used once a month. This is a gift from the others as thanks for looking after Morning Dove. The second gift … well let's just say you will know it when it happens.'**_ Carrie stopped glowing a few seconds later. She wrapped her arms around herself and had a small look of puzzlement on her face as she looked over her mother.

'_**With this said the last of the energy has been used and I shall return to the other side, to paradise, to the home of our ancestors. Farewell my daughter, my Morning Dove. Just know that you have made me very proud.'**_ As she said this the she wolf began to glow before she slowly began to fade away, out of existence. We continued to sit there in silence on the floor as we thought about what we had just seen and heard.

"Huh, I thought that I would be use to strange things happening around me by now," Bella said quietly. We all let out a small chuckle at that.

"I wonder," Carrie mumbled and we all turned to look at her curiously. I just looked down on her since she was still in my lap. She was sitting up straight, arms crossed and eyes closed. It appeared as if she was thinking about something. Before any of us could say anything Carrie was surrounded by a bright light that extended out from her and then shrunk back, but smaller than before. When the light was gone there was Carrie as she had appeared before the transformation, scars and everything. When she opened her eyes they were a milky color, drastically different from before where they looked burnt and red. "Well, how do I look?"

"Like you did before," Carlisle said in awe, "but the eyes are different."

"Really," Carrie asked as her eyes suddenly cleared showing the hazel from before her injury.

Carlisle got up and examined her eyes closely. "I think that we have just found your disguise," he said with a small smile as he took a seat next to us.

"What about Bella's scent," Jasper asked confused as he looked at Carrie as she took her vampire form.

"What about it," Carrie said confused as to what he meant.

"He means why it does not seem to affect you. She has one of the most tantalizing scents that we have ever come across. We are wondering why it does not seem to bother you when we ourselves had a hard time resisting it at first," I told her.

"Really," Carrie said questionably. I nodded to her inquiry. Carrie then turned toward Bella and took a tentative sniff of the air. "She does smell really nice and so does Jacob, he smells like family in a way, but I don't feel any different.

"No thirst or anything," Carlisle asked intrigued at this new information. Carrie shook her head in the negative. I heard some shuffling and we all turned to see Bella getting up off the floor with Jacob's help. We all stood up as well since there really was no reason for us to be sitting on the floor any longer. Bella slowly and nervously made her way toward us with Jacob right behind her. I gripped tighter on to Carrie's arms and the others took ready stances just in case any thing does happen. When Bella was right in front of us and Carrie didn't seem to do anything I hesitantly released my grip on her arms. Bella stepped even closer and they continued to stare at each other. Carrie gave a tentative smile which Bella returned and they met each other in a hug with the sunlight streaming in causing Carrie to sparkle.

(Not sure how to work in language part, Thinking Sue 'took over' Carrie to let Jake know that she, and the others, can be trusted. And that everything was going to be alright)

* they didn't sleep , just rest, let everything get settled, the final changes be made, let her mind get caught up and the other to loose some stress that they accumulated over the past few days


	36. Chapter 36

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

SORRY IF SHE SEEMS REALLY POWERFUL OR WHATEVER BUT IT WASN'T MY INTENTION. JUST TRYING TO ADD SOME LEVITY, YOU KNOW LIGHTEN THINGS UP FROM THE DARK PREVIOUS CHAPTERS. SORRY I'M LATE ON POSTING UPDATE, THINGS HAVE BEEN KIND OF HECTIC. THANK YOU SO MUCH TO **SUNRISEROOFTOPS** FOR REVIEWING, **MASALTA2, BABYBISER**, AND **SERENA83** FOR ADDING EITHER THIS OR ME TO THEIR FAVORITES LIST, AND **TIARAC72**, AND **SUNTAN140** FOR ADDING ME TO THEIR AUTHOR ALERT LIST.

I ALREADY KNOW THAT I'M PROBABLY GOING TO BE GETTING FLAMES ABOUT THIS CHAPTER.

**Chapter 36 Back To Somewhat Normalcy**

Carrie's POV

After Bella and Jacob left I decided to experiment more with my new gift. I could make my appearance to make me look like anyone I wanted. I could make my hair length or color; brown, red, brown, black, even blue! The same with my eyes and I could make my skin any natural skin tone. I could change anything of my appearance. I also discovered that with my skin tone I could make it so that I wouldn't shimmer in the sun light. But some of the real fun began when I tried to apply my gift to the rest of my family.

I was currently standing in the middle of the sun filled living room. I had my appearance so that I looked like an Asian woman; around 5'5" in height, but small and petite in body stature. My skin was the typical light brown and my eyes were so dark brown that they appeared black. My hair was short and cut at an angle. The bangs, which were purple the rest black, came down to my collar bone and the hair line went up to the back of my head starting from the jaw so the bangs are longer. I was wearing a pair of tight black pants, tight red shirt with a purple vest, with a pair of black stilettos on my feet. I had the rest of the family looking like they would if they were human (more natural skin tones). They watched in awe as the sunlight hit their skin and they didn't shimmer.

"I'll tell you what Carrie, you have got to have some of the coolest powers ever," Emmett said in awe as he stood shirtless in the sunlight, observing as the sunlight hit his skin.

"Yeah it's pretty cool I guess," I said. I concentrated on an image in my mind and I was engulfed in some light as I transformed. When the light died my new form was that of Pink, dressed in the black outfit she wore in the Get This Party Started music video.* "I'm just glad that I can see again." I was engulfed in light again, then revealed to be in my new form but I was still wearing the clothes from the previous form I had.

"I still can't believe the way that you look. It's kind of like a female version of Emmett," Rosalie said as she got up and started to circle around me.

"Sue said that this is what I would have looked like if I was better taken care of while growing up. Not getting the proper nourishment and all kind of stunted my growth and development," I said as I looked over myself seeing how I looked in my new attire.

"It is still fascinating all the same," Carlisle said softly.

I turned toward him and looked him over a little bit. He raised an eyebrow questionably at my actions. "Would you mind if I try something with you Carlisle," I asked curiously.

"What is it that you want to try," he asked.

"Just changing your appearance a little bit, I want to see if I am able to," I told him honestly.

"Fine why not, you can't discover the full potential of your gifts if you don't experiment," he said with a wave of his hand. I turned to full face him and I closed my eyes in concentration. I pictured an image of Carlisle in my mind as he is now, then I slowly added what changes I wanted to make to him. When I was done I 'pushed' the image away from me, out of my mind. I could see some light through my lids as the transformation took place. When the light died down I hesitantly opened my eyes to see if it worked or not.

The others gasped at what they saw. I had aged Carlisle about twenty years; he looked the same just older. There were some wrinkles on his face, crow's feet and laugh lines with a couple of age spots. His hair was darker in color and seemed a bit wispier than before with some streaks of grey around the edges. His eyes still held the same wisdom in them as before, but now his face matched closer to the years reflected in them. Carlisle brought his hands up to look at them. They too look older with some age spots and a bit more gnarled, weathered appearance.

"Ha, Carlisle looks like an old man," Emmett said with a laugh as he pointed at Carlisle with one hand while is other was clutching his other side. I shot Emmett a dirty look at his words before I smirked. I sent an image to him, causing him to change. When we all saw him again we laughed at what we saw. Emmett looked like an old man as well, but not just any old man, a really old man. He was all withered and wrinkled. His eyebrows were all bushy and he had hair coming out of his ears. His ear lobes were so long and his face was so wrinkled and droopy that you couldn't really see his eyes. He looked like a real life version of a cartoon old man.

Emmett looked kind of panicked at his new appearance. He looked himself over, running his gnarled hands over his new arms and face before he sent me the nastiest glare that he could send me. It wasn't very effective with his new face, it just looked like he was constipated or something. "Carrie," he shouted angrily as he came running toward me, "change me back right now!"

I laughed as I ran away from him. "Awe cheer up you big baby," I said as I changed him again; this time though, into to a baby. He was in mid jump as I changed him but thankfully Alice was right there to catch the now baby Emmett before he could fall to the floor. She must have seen it coming. The others laughed even more at his new appearance. Emmett was a rather big baby, about two years in age and on the chunky side.

"Oh he is so adorable," Esme gushed as she stood up and took baby Emmett from Alice. Emmett didn't seem to like his new appearance either as he was scowling the entire time; he had his short baby arms crossed as best as he could.*

"As amusing as this is Carrie, change your brother back and apologize," Carlisle said. Both he and I were engulfed in light and when it faded Carlisle was shown to be himself again, but I looked to be a little kid around four or five.

"Do I have to," I pouted with a small whine as I gave him a sad look while wringing the end of the large shirt I had covering my form in my hands. Carlisle just crossed his arms while he looked at me sternly. "Fine," I sighed. Emmett, who had been set on the ground, and I were surrounded by light and took our original forms. He was wearing a grey sweat pants, minus the black t-shirt that he took off earlier and I was wearing a pair of red shorts with a large black t-shirt.

Emmett looked himself over before he turned and gave me an evil grin. I gave him a small hesitant and nervous smile as I slowly began backing away from him. He slowly stepped toward me and I continued backing away. He began walking faster so I turned around so that I could run away from. I was tackled though before I could even leave the room. I was lying on my stomach trying to get up but Emmett was sitting on top of me with his legs pinning my arms to my sides.

When Emmett was sure that I could not escape he proceeded to tickle me. I thought that it was bad before but it is even worse now when I was so much more sensitive to touch. I was squirming like crazy, laughing and begging him to stop and to get off of me. I was unable to get him off of me since he was stronger than me and I have yet to get used to my new strength and didn't know how to properly use it.

"Okay (laugh) okay (pant). I give…I give," I said while laughing.

"Say it and I'll let you up," Emmett said tauntingly as he continued to tickle me.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Uncle, Uncle, anything just let me up," I managed to get out between laughs and struggles. I felt Emmett get off of me but I just continued to lay there on the floor where he tackled me catching my nonexistent breath. I heard someone walk up but my face was turned away from them. I felt a pair of hands grab my waist then pick me up. When I was placed back on my feet I was brought back to a strong chest. The scent that I got let me know that it was Edward and I leaned into his hold more as a smile spread across my face. I felt him lean down and start to nuzzle the crook of my neck. I tilted my head away to allow him more room and I brought my hand up and buried it in his hair. Edward tightened his grip on me and proceeded to 'attack' the new flesh exposed to him. I leaned against him at the intense sensations that he was making me feel.

"Alright cut it out you two," Esme said teasingly from behind us. Edward stopped what he was doing with a small groan of protest and I let out a big sigh. We turned around and made our way to the unoccupied love seat. I let the illusion go so we were now sparkling in the sunlight again. When we reached the love seat Edward plopped down on it, pulling me down on top of him as he did so. I moved so that I was more comfortable and had my nose close to the crook of his neck so that with each breath I could take in his scent. I felt him move so that he had his nose buried in my hair, taking in my scent as well.

Everyone else was doing their own thing again and it was strangely reminiscent of the day such a short time yet and eternity ago. Emmett and Jasper were playing a video game and it sounded as if everyone else was working on the photo album again. Edward and I were just lying on the love seat, enjoying the feel of the sun as it fell on us and of the sensations of us lying close together. Edward had his arms around me. One hand was rubbing up and down my back slowly with he traced patterns with the other on my arm that was wrapped around him.

I was lying there with my eyes closed, resting. I'm still trying to get used to the idea of not eating and sleeping like I used to, but my family has been very supportive and helped me to cope with the changes. I'm just glad that I can see again and that I am no longer in pain. It feels so liberating to be able to move around and not feel like that I am going to fall apart at the seams. I am also glad that I have a gift that can be so helpful to my family. I feel as though I am finally able to pay them back for all of the kindness that they have shown me. But what I am even happier about is that I have a family to call my own. I get this warm feeling inside me each time I say or think the word family. It was with a smile on my face that I settled against Edward for a 'nap'.

Time skip to weekend

It was the Sunday before we were all going to go back to school. Carlisle and Esme went down to the school earlier in the week to discuss whether or not if I would be able to graduate or if my absences would prevent that. After much discussion it was decided that if I go back to school and score decently on my finals I would be allowed to graduate and my absences would be over looked considering the circumstances. I and the others were excited when they came home and told us the news. They weren't too worried about me attacking anyone because they figured that if I didn't try to attack Bella I shouldn't have any trouble going to school. Alice immediately dragged me up to her room where she tutored me over everything that I had missed while I was asleep.

With the news that I could possibly graduate the girls seemed to be more determined to not let me see what they were working on. I knew that it is a photo album but they wouldn't let me see any of the pictures that they were looking through or what they were using. They mainly worked in the living room so whenever I came near that area of the house they would try to cover up what they were working on. If they couldn't cover it up one of them, Rosalie and Alice mainly, would get in front of me blocking my view of the work area and eventually either drag me away or push me out of the room. My curiosity was sparked so I would try to sneak in and see what they were doing. I always got caught though. It seemed my 'invisibility' part of my natural gift didn't work with them because I got caught every time. That and with the dominate shifter blood gone with my plunge into the river Alice could see whenever I was going to try and sneak a peak.

"What do you think you are doing Carrie," Alice asked from behind me. I was trying to sneak a look at the photo album that they were working on but I got caught … again.

"Nothing," I said just a little too sweetly.

"Looks like you are trying to get a look at the surprise again," Alice said in a snitch like way.

"Well as you said so yourself, I'm like a fox and foxes are curious creatures. My curiosity has been sparked and I'm trying to satisfy it," I said with a pout as I crossed my arms.

"Go satisfy your curiosity with Edward then," Alice said as she grabbed me by my shoulders and pushed me toward the stairs.

"Fine," I said with a sigh and started up the stairs on my own after she had already pushed me up half way up. "Wait…what?" I was confused as to what she meant by that. They eventually moved their project into Carlisle's study which we had to ask permission to enter first. I just gave up then, why spoil the surprise. I'll just have to be patient and wait to see what it is.

We had just come back from a hunt since we have school tomorrow we made sure that we all fed me especially. I was a good hunter, one of the better ones, but I still hunted like I did before and not like the others. It got the job done though. We were just sitting in the living room, not doing much of anything. We had all cleaned up and were wearing some house clothes and/or pajamas. It was around ten o'clock at night when I came up with an idea.

"How about we all go to sleep," I asked everyone. They just turned and looked at me in confusion or like I was crazy.

"Ah Carrie, did you forget that we can't sleep," Edward asked softly.

"Yeah I remember, but you seem to have forgotten the gift from Sue," I said cheerfully. They all looked at me in confusion now. "Remember she allowed me to cast a spell once a month that would allow us to sleep."

"Really I forgot all about that," Alice said excitedly as she lightly bounced in her seat.

"How does that work? What needs to be done," Carlisle asked curious as to what could be done to allow our kind to sleep.

"It is kind of like my illusions. I just think about you guys sleeping, cast that image out and you fall asleep. Just set an alarm to go off in the morning and we'll wake up when it goes off," I said as I thought it over. When Sue gave me this gift she didn't leave clear instructions on how to use it, I went with what felt right.

"Oh, oh, let's do it," Alice said excitedly as she turned toward Carlisle. We all turned to him as well to see what his decision would be. He crossed his legs and leaned back in the chair he was sitting in and appeared to be thinking about it.

He turned toward Esme who was sitting in a chair next to him and asked, "What do you think dear?"

"I say that we give it a try," Esme said softly with a small smile as she took his hand in her own.

He turned to me and said, "What do we need to do?"

"Well you can change into whatever you want to wear to go to bed, then lay down where you want to sleep at and I'll do the rest," I told him. "Just don't forget to set an alarm to go off in the morning." As soon as I finished saying that Emmett and Alice took off to where ever, the others followed at their own pace. Edward stayed in the living room though and he came over and grabbed hold of my hand then gave a slight tug in the direction of the stairs. Together we walked slowly up the stairs and to my room.

I let go of his hand and set the alarm on my clock then closed the curtains over my windows. When I turned back around I saw that the curtains around my bed had been undone and Edward was lying on my bed under the sheets. He rolled so that he was facing me and patted the spot next to him. I slowly walked to the bed, parted the curtains and crawled into the bed. I pulled the sheets up around me as I lay down. Edward made sure that I was tucked in before he leaned over and gave me a long, slow, tantalizing kiss. I brought my hands up and buried them in his hair and I felt Edward move so that he was over me. One hand was in my hair the other on my side; he was holding himself off of me with his elbows.

He slowly pulled away and started kissing up the side of my neck; I tilted my head to the side to allow him better access. He very slowly made his way up from my collar bone adding little nips, sucks and licks along the way. I couldn't help the soft moans that escaped me at his ministrations. When he reached my ear he softly whispered, "The others are ready." Then he proceeded to kiss me again.

I reluctantly pushed him away so that I could speak. "Then I guess I shouldn't keep them waiting," I whispered. I leaned up and placed a kiss on his lips before I pulled back and motioned beside me. He lay down next to me pulling me close to his side. I reached down and pulled the blankets up around us. Our legs entangled with each others, arms around one another, and my head on his chest. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the family. I started with Carlisle, and then moved on to Esme, then Rosalie and Emmett, Jasper then Alice. I picked my head up and moved to place one last kiss on Edward's lips. "See you in the morning my king," I said softly to him.

"Until the sun rises and I can see your beautiful face again, my queen," Edward replied. I closed my eyes and pictured Edward asleep and cast the image out. I opened my eyes to see Edward watching me as his eyes slowly slid closed as he fell asleep. When he was fully asleep I leaned up and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "Sweet Dreams Eddie." I settled myself back against his side, my head resting on his chest before I too cast the spell on myself and fell asleep.

Edward's POV

Something felt wrong, different, from usual. There was this heaviness to my body that I don't remember feeling before, yet it feels distantly familiar. The area around my eyes felt heavier and puffier than usual. I was just unwilling to open my eyes so I rolled over to my side while pulling something closer to me. I was unable to go back to that peaceful place that I once was so I just lied there trying to determine what it was that brought me here.

It was then that I noticed that there was a noise of some sort that was steadily getting louder. I opened my eyes and blinked them to clear my vision. Why is it so hard to see to begin with? I picked my head up to look around the room to determine the source of the noise. I looked around the dark room and judging by the sound it was coming from an alarm clock that read 5:30 in the morning. Why would the alarm be going off? As this strange feeling started to disappear the events of last night started to come back to me.

'_I remember now, Carrie used the spell her mother gave her in order to allow us to sleep for the night. That is why I feel so strange yet it seems familiar, I slept. I actually spent the night sleeping with Carrie in my arms_.' As I thought this I looked down and saw that Carrie was beginning to stir as well. Her back was to my chest and her hair was spread around her. She had a hold of my arms that were around her and our legs were entangled with each other. I watched as she stirred a bit more with a groan of protest. She rolled on to her stomach away from me and proceeded to pull herself to the edge of the bed toward the alarm clock. I kept my grip on her but she manages to pull herself up and out of my hold. I moved forward after her so that I didn't have to let go of her.

When she got to the edge of the bed she reached through the curtains and turned off the alarm. She then just relaxed where she was as she tried to wake up. I just settled myself so that my cheek rested in the small of her back and I tightened my arms around her hips. I just lay there as I heard the others start to stir with in the house. I have never felt so rested before. Sure there is some sleepiness as I tried to wake up, but I'm sure that it is normal.

"Why did you have to set the alarm so early," I complained lightly.

"So that we could have plenty of time to get ready," she said as she began to wiggle around a little bit. I leaned up and loosened my hold on her as she moved back down toward me. She settled herself so that we were facing each other. I put my arm back around her waist and relished in the skin on skin contact made due to her shirt riding up as she moved. I lightly traced patterns on her skin with my finger tips and noticed that she shivered lightly at the feeling. I moved forward so that I could place my forehead against hers and brought her closer to me than before. She let out a sigh as she too wrapped her arms around me. Gods I missed her so much, even though I never left her and she was just asleep I missed her more than I even thought possible. I was so scared that I would never see her again, but I have nothing to worry about now and I am going to make sure that she will have everything that she could possibly want. I closed the distance between us as I captured her soft lips in a kiss. As she began to respond I leaned forward so that she rolled on to her back and I settled on top of her.

I brought one hand up to bury in her hair, the other one was moving between her waist and hip, caressing the bare skin there. Carrie wrapped her arms around my neck as she eagerly responded to my kiss. One hand moved up to the back of my head and lightly grasped some hair. I pulled away and began to trail my kisses along side of her neck. She in turn lifted her chin up higher as I placed open mouthed kisses against her smooth skin. I slowly began to move my hand up higher, under her shirt and Carrie arched up into my touch.

"Edward, Carrie, it's time to get up you two," Esme said through the door as she knocked on it, interrupting our moment. Both Carrie and I seemed to just 'collapse' with a sigh. My forehead was resting against her collarbone as I tried to get myself under control.

"Are you two up," Esme said as she knocked on the door a little harder.

"Yeah we're up Esme and we'll be down in a little bit," Carrie called out. I heard Esme move away toward some other room to check on the others. She and Carlisle must have gotten up earlier to go to work and to make sure that we got up. I felt Carrie unwind her arms from around my neck and bury her fingers in my hair at the back of my head. I felt a slight tug and moved up so that our faces were even with each others. She moved up and kissed me but pulled away before I could respond to it. "Come on Eddie, we have to get ready for school."

I reluctantly got out of bed and held my hand out to her as she got out. Carrie took it and we headed to the living room. I sat down in one of the recliners and pulled her down so that she sat in my lap. Everyone understood of my need to always touch and hold her and Carrie didn't seem to mind since she hasn't complained once. She seems to enjoy the attention anyways. Slowly the rest of the family came into the living room. Before they sat down though they picked Carrie up, and hugged and thanked her for the night of sleep.

"Man I have never felt so rested in all of my years of being a vampire," Emmett said with a final stretch as he sat on the sofa.

"It feels nice to get some beauty sleep again," Rosalie said with a small laugh after she hugged Carrie.

"I'm just glad that I am able to do something for you guys after you have done so much for me when you didn't have to," Carrie said.

"Don't mention it. We would do it again in a heartbeat if we had to," Alice said as she took a seat next to Jasper on the loveseat.

"I know that but I still feel good that I am able to do something for you guys instead of your doing everything for me," Carrie said as she rearranged herself in my lap so that she could see everyone better.

"Think nothing of it. Besides we should be thanking you," Esme said as she came into the room and sat on the sofa next to Rosalie. "You have managed to get Edward out of his depression, been a friend to everyone else and allowed me to be a mother and care for you."

"And for some reason or some way you have helped me to be able to resist the call of human blood," Jasper added softly. "I am able to control my urges better."

'_Unlike someone I know_,' I heard Carrie think in a teasing way. I retaliated my tickling her sides which had her squirming in my lap and her laughter ringing through the house. The others laughed at our antics and Alice once again was taking pictures of us. She has become overly obsessed with taking pictures I think. I am also starting to believe that she carries a camera with her around everywhere taking pictures of us. I think she has enough of the two of us together already, and if not she has the rest of time in order to take pictures of us.

After we settled down we all just sat there enjoying the silence and the distant sounds of the animals waking as the sun rose over the horizon. We left to our rooms to get ready for the day. The boys and I were just waiting for the girls to get ready. I was wearing a dark pair of vintage jeans with a black long sleeve tee and white sneakers. Emmett was wearing blue jeans, dark green t-shirt with a black zip up sweater and black sneakers. Jasper had on black jeans with a dark, charcoal v-neck sweater with a whit tee underneath with black dress shoes. We heard footsteps and turned to look toward the stairs and saw that the girls had once again dressed similarly.

First Alice came down wearing faded blue jeans with the wrap Carrie had gotten her for Christmas, a white shirt with a light blue jean vest with a white robe like sweater over that. After her came Rosalie wearing dark grey jeans, a black tee that was just barely visible under her matching jean jacket and matching heels. Carrie was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans that were almost black, a dark purple t-shirt, rhinestone decorated with a jacket that was similar to Alice's sweater but it was black denim and a pair of white sneakers. Her hair was pulled up into a pony tail and she had some light make up on. I also took note that Carrie had changed to look like her old scared self and she had a pair of dark sunglasses on her head for school since her eyes were supposed to be still recovering from surgery. We gathered our things from next to the door and headed out to the garage to our vehicles. Carrie and I got into my Volvo, the girls in Rosalie's BMW and the guys into Emmett's Jeep.

"Are you ready for this," I asked Carrie as I held her hand on the drive to school. She seemed to be slightly nervous about going back.

"Of course I am a little nervous. I am different from before and I don't want to do anything that might cause any trouble for you guys," Carrie said nervously.

"Don't worry about that, we will all be there. The scents shouldn't bother you if Bella's didn't," I told her reassuringly and I placed a kiss on the back of the hand that I was holding. She gave me a dazzling smile.

At school we parked in our usual places and I could hear the curious thoughts of those that were already here. My siblings and I have been absent for a while; me never leaving Carrie's side and later the others to help Carrie cope with being a vampire. We all got of the vehicles and stood nearby to wait for school to start. Our bags were piled nearby in a dry area and we just stood there quietly. I had my arms wrapped around Carrie with her back to my chest. She had her sunglasses on to keep up appearances.

"How are you holding up," Jasper asked her. He was still nervous about her being around people since she is still technically a newborn.

"Fine I guess. It is kind of weird that I can hear what everyone is saying and all of the smells that I'm picking up are a bit overwhelming," she said as she leaned against me more and I tighten my arms around her in reassurance.

We stood there until it was time for us to go in. We gathered our bags and headed to our respective lockers. I had a hold of Carrie's hand as we first stopped at my locker then hers. After she dropped off most of her books and put what she needed in her bag we walked hand in hand to her first class. Before she entered her class though I pulled her close and placed a tender kiss on her lips then gave her a slight push in the direction of her class with a smile. I was a little worried about leaving her by herself, but I'm sure that she can handle herself.

Carrie's POV

I slowly made my way to my seat as I discreetly took in the room. The décor had changed a little bit from the last time that I had seen it. So far I was the only one in the room, but that soon changed when I heard a gasp coming from the door. I slowly turned in that direction and saw that Angela and a couple others were standing slacked jawed in the door way.

"Carrie," Angela said excitedly as she ran toward me with her arms wide. I stood up so that it would be easier for her to hug me. I staggered back a little bit from the force of her colliding into me. I hope she didn't notice how stone like I felt now. When she pulled away Eric, Mike and Tyler had to give a hug as well. I made sure that there was no skin on skin contact, just in case.

"So how did everything go? Did the surgery work," Angela asked quickly.

"Things were a bit bumpy, but the end result is good. I can see again," I told her with a smile while not exactly lying but not telling the whole truth either.

"That's great, but why are you wearing sunglasses," Eric asked his brow wrinkling in confusion.

"Well my eyes are still healing so they shouldn't be exposed to bright light or I could go blind again," I told them. Before any of us could say anything else the bell rang and the teacher came into the room. Class went on the same as before, going over the books that we were reading and starting a review for the finals.

The rest of the day went on like usual. Everyone had to give me a hug though and they asked how the surgery went. They were all ecstatic when they learned that I had gained my sight back and wondered when I could stop wearing my sunglasses. Bella practically tackled me when Edward and I walked through the door for Biology class.

We were currently sitting in the cafeteria and Edward had bought me a lunch to keep up appearances. Without thinking I picked up the slice of pizza and took a bite. I had to force myself to swallow the bite that I had taken. Pizza didn't taste very appetizing. Then it dawned on me that I didn't have to eat any longer and I can sort of understand why I never see the others never eat anything.

"What's matter Carrie," Edward asked me. I knew that it was about the look of disgust of my face.

"Pizza is no longer very appetizing," I told him as I dropped said thing back on to the tray.

"You know that we don't eat so why did you take a bite," Alice asked with a tilt of her head.

"Well I'm feeling kind of hungry," I said. I Jasper and the others stiffen a little at my words and looked at me in worry. "Don't worry; it's not a thirst kind of hunger, but a hunger in needing some solid food. I'm feeling a bit run down from today so far and I feel like some comfort food." I said as I leaned back in my seat and crossed my arms.

'_I'm sure that I could give you some comfort food_,' was what I heard in my head.

I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw that Edward was looking at me from the corner of his eye as well. I just slapped him across the chest as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders with a '_your bad, behave'_.

After lunch Alice dragged me to math class which was so much easier now that I could see what I was doing. After class we went to gym where we could do whatever we wanted to do. The rest of my family decided to play some three on three basketball; girls versus guys of course. It feels so good to be able to move around without trouble and to be able to run without having trouble breathing and a heart pounding erratically. Someone always stayed near me though to make sure that I kept things human looking which was kind of hard at first but I soon got the hang of it.

After gym we headed home. Esme greeted us at the door and asked us about our day as we walked into the living room. I collapsed on the sofa with a sigh and brought my left arm up and placed it over my eyes. I let the illusion go revealing my new body. Unfortunately my clothes were not part of the illusion so they no longer fit. The shirt was now really tight across the bust and only came down halfway to my belly button. My jeans were riding dangerously low on my hips and the length was closer to that of Capri's. I looked really inappropriate at the moment but I didn't care; my first day back to school has been exhausting.

I felt someone grab on to my legs so I peered out from under my arm and watched as Edward sat where my legs were a short time ago. I watched as he leaned toward me so that he was lying on his side with his head resting on my bare stomach. I removed the arm from across my eyes and ran my fingers through his hair. I felt him turn his head and felt as he placed a kiss on my skin. "Don't worry, just a few more weeks and we are done with school this time around," I heard him say softly.

*think like tHe girl from titan a.e or what ever its called. i don't own it. and i love pinks black out fit from her video, if i was fit instead of pudgy i'd so wear it

*i'm sorry i'm sorry I just couldn't resist writing this part. It just looked so funny when i pictured it in my mind. i know i'm going to get some complaints about it.


	37. Chapter 37

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight and my friend doesn't mind being a character and is looking forward to what I write

Lost and Found

A Twilight crossover

Pairings usual except for Edward/my character Bella/Jacob

My character is based on my best friend, the only one that I ever trust. There are similarities between them, but this one has an ending. I'm trying to write it as if from her point of view. It will change POV sometimes.

Senior year, Edward and Bella have split for good, but the Cullens haven't left.

THIS IS IT, (GASP) THE FINAL CHAPTER (FOR NOW AT LEAST IF I DO WRITE ANOTHER IT WILL BE, SIGH AS REQUESTED, PURE CITRUS, THAT IS IF I GET THE COURAGE TO WRITE IT). I THANK ALL OF YOU THAT HAVE BEEN READING AND REVIEWING, FOLLOWING MY CHARACTER THROUGH HER JOURNEY OF LEARNRING TO LOVE AND FINDING A FAMILY, A PLACE WHERE SHE BELONGS. I HOPE THAT ALL OF YOU HAVE ENJOYED READING THIS STORY AND HAVING FUN WHILE DOING SO AS MUCH AS I DID WHILE WRITING IT. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ONCE AGAIN THANK CHIKE FOR LOOKING OVER AND EDITING THE FIRST THIRTY CHAPTERS. WITH OUT YOUR HELP IN THE BEGINNING I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE STOPPED WRITING AND POSTING FROM THE NEGATIVE REACTIONS I WAS RECEIVING AT FIRST. AND A BIG THANK YOU TO TWO VERY IMPORTANT REVIEWERS WHO HAVE KEPT ME GOING AND HELPED ME TO TRY AND UPDATE ON TIME, SO A VERY VERY BIG THANK YOU AND A CRUSHING HUG TO **CHIKA1345**, AND **TRIFORCANDSHIEKAHARTS** (AND THERE TOWARD THE END **SUNRISEROOFTOPS**). YOU TWO, LATER THREE, HAVE KEPT ME UPDATING, AND LOOKING FORWARD TO DO SO. WELL THAT IS ALL THAT I CAN REALLY THINK OF TO SAY AT THE MOMENT SO I THANK YOU ALL ONCE AGAIN FOR JOINING ME ON THIS JOURNEY AND I HOPE TO HEAR FROM ALL OF YOU TO AGAIN THE NEXT TIME MY MUSE STRIKES. SO UNTIL THEN I BID YOU ALL ADU. (BREAKS OUT INTO TEARS ABSOLUTELY SOBBING WHILE HOLDING TIGHTLY ONTO THE WOLFPACK PLUSHIES AND A SESSHOUMARU PLUSHIE) (and i also guess with my new puppy michaelangelo)

was going to post this for christmas then decided to wait for new years then i turn around and forgot lol.

**Chapter 37 Epilogue: For All Eternity **(originally part of chapter 36 and its original title)

The air was charged with excitement. Everywhere that I looked was a flurry of movement whether it is of people, fabric of dresses, flowers. People were going around trying to make final touches to things and trying to find the right dresses to wear. Everyone had bright smiles on their faces as they went about their business to get ready for everything. I myself could feel butterflies flying around in me. To calm myself I reach up and start to fiddle with the necklace that Edward had given me so long ago. The feeling of the cool metal against my skin helped me to calm down the butterflies just a little bit but a larger smile spreads across my face as I think about Edward. I was brought out of my thoughts though when a small table was knocked over near me.

I bent down and righted the table then put the things that were on the ground back on to the table. I brought my hand up to the object that I felt lightly bump against my skin and wrapped my fingers around it. In my hand was a small locket with the Cullen family crest on it. I smile as I was once again lost in my memories.

Flashback

"Alright I'll try to keep this short seeing as we have been out here for two hours," the assistant principal joked. "I have just one last word of advice; take what you have learned in your four years here and never forget them. Never forget the experiences you shared during your time here at Forks High for they have shaped who you are now and has given you the tools in order to shape who you will be. Among you could be a future president or another important political leader, a doctor who saves hundreds of lives, an inventor who creates something to improve society. No matter where you go on the road of life never forget your roots here at Forks High. Now it's time for these students to finally receive their diplomas."

He then started to go through the list of students names alphabetically. We were seated outside on the football field, sitting in rows waiting for our turn to receive our diploma. It was a sunny day out but thanks to my gift none of my family was sparkling. "…Alice Cullen, Edward Cullen, Emmett Cullen…Carrie Hale, Jasper Hale, Rosalie Hale…" As our names were announced there were some cheers and polite clapping. I could hear Carlisle and Esme cheer and clap loudly as our names were called. What surprised me most though was that when my name was called the entire student body erupted in cheers. I was startled at the sudden noise that was directed to me. I was calmed though when I heard Edward explain to me through his gift that they were supporting me and cheering me on that I seem to defy all odds and that I have managed to graduate.

"May I present to you the Class of 2008," the principal said as he finished his final remarks. We all stood up and looped our arms around each other as we sang the school song. When we finished we tossed our caps high into the air with a loud cheer. After wards the new graduates split up and took pictures with their friends and families.

"Oh Carrie, we are so proud of you," Esme said as she gave me a hug.

"Thanks mom, thanks dad" I said as I pulled away from Esme and gave Carlisle a hug.

"Why don't you all stand together so that we can take a picture," Carlisle said as he held up a camera. We all stood under one of the many Forks High Class of 2008 banners that were hung up around the premises. I stood in the middle with Edward behind me with his hands on my shoulders. Alice was on my right with Jasper behind her and Rosalie was on my left with Emmett behind her. The girls and I had our hands clasped together and held between us. We took several pictures before we left.

Later that day we had a graduation party at a local park; we would have had it at our house but Bella wanted to come as well as Jacob and his friends and some people from school. Esme loved the idea because she decided to cater for the whole thing. She had spent the few days prior cooking up a storm. All of the werewolves showed up and completely devoured a good chunk of the food. Chief Swan, Billy Black, Mike, Eric, Tyler, Angela, Jessica and a few other people, some parents included, showed up. There was music playing and it was an overall party.

Before we opened some graduation presents we shared were we were all going to attend next fall. All of my family has accepted to going to actually attend nearby colleges since we have decided to stay in this area thanks to my gifts we don't have to move. Eric, Angela and Jessica were going to a school to study journalism and Tyler and Mike got accepted somewhere on a sports scholarship. We all got a gift from someone, which were mainly gift cards. From Charlie I got the deed to the house that Thom and Liz bought when we moved here. The mortgage had been taken care of so I didn't have to worry about it. I later gave the deed to Carlisle and Esme for I didn't want anything to do with that house at the moment. But what Carlisle and Esme gave me is one of the most precious of gifts.

When it came to their turn to give me a gift Carlisle pulled a rectangular box out from his jacket pocket. He held it out to me with a smile; Esme was standing on his right with a large smile as well. I hesitantly took the box from him and held it in my hands. I looked up at Carlisle who placed his arm around Esme shoulders and they were looking at me expectantly. I looked at my siblings and boyfriend and they too were looking at me expectantly. Alice made a go ahead motion with her hands, to urge me on to open it. I took the silver ribbon off of the black velvet box and held the bottom half in my left hand as I opened the box with shaky hands. I gasped and nearly dropped the box at what I saw.

There in the box was one of the Indian chokers that Bella and Jacob had gotten me for my birthday. The same set that I noticed that mysteriously disappeared for a few days a couple of weeks ago. It was three rows tall made out of black painted bone and silver beads between each piece of bone. There was a difference though; hanging in the middle of the necklace was a large pendant of the Cullen family crest. It was about the same size if not a little smaller than Rosalie's pendant, but didn't look ridiculously large. I looked at them shocked at what I was seeing. This gift was very important, it signified that I was a true member of the family and accepted as one of them.

"Open the locket," Esme urged lightly. I looked at her questionably before I looked to examine the necklace again. The pendant was in fact a locket. I gently took the choker out of the box and held it in my hand as I set the box down on the table. I held on to the pendant and opened it with my left hand. I gasped and brought my hand up to cover my mouth in shock. In the locket there were two pictures; on the back (right) side was a picture of Edward and me standing together in our Halloween costumes. Edward and I were standing close, our hands clasped between us looking at the camera. On the front door (left) side was a picture of all of us together that was taken during our Thanksgiving camping trip. Alice and I were sitting in the front with Jasper and Rosalie kneeling behind us. Behind them were Esme and Carlisle who were leaning down with their hands on their knees with Edward and Emmett standing behind them. All of us had bright smiles on our faces.

I looked up at Carlisle and Esme in disbelief. Their response was wider smiles and a nod of the head. I smile broke out across my face as I threw myself at them, wrapping my arms around them in an embrace. I felt them wrap their arms around me as well as a single tear of pure happiness and joy slipped down my cheek. I pulled away and they both placed a kiss on the middle of my forehead. Carlisle took the necklace from my hands as Esme turned me around and held my hair out of the way so Carlisle could easily fasten the claps. I felt the necklace against my skin of my throat and I felt the locket settle over the hollow of my throat and between the nubs of my collar bone. I brought my hand up and felt the locket that hung from the choker. I moved my hand down a couple of inches and felt the dolphin pendant. I looked up and saw that my siblings were smiling at me and a smile appeared on my face as well before I launched myself at them as well. Emmett was the closest one so I landed in his arms and he held me in one of his famous bear hugs. He gave me a spin before he set me down and I hugged the others.

End Flashback

"Hello Earth to Carrie is anyone there," I heard someone say. I blinked my eyes and shook my head slightly. In front of me stood Bella who I had noted changed into her dress.

"Yeah what is it Bella," I asked her in slight apology for spacing out.

"You need to get into your dress so that we can do your hair and makeup," she said as Alice held a large garment bag out to me,

"Oh sorry," I said in apology as I took the bag from Alice and headed to the designated changing room. Esme came in with me so that she could help me get it on and zipping me up. After I was done I went over to the vanity and took a seat so that Alice and Rosalie could do my hair and makeup. Rosalie did my hair in a very similar way as I did hers for Halloween. She made my natural curls more pronounced and she lightly pulled the top half of my hair back and clipped it in place with a white flower clip. She also made a flower crown out of daisies around my head. Alice put a shade of eye shadow that she thought brought out my eyes the best, she added some blush to my cheeks and some lip gloss to my lips.

"Oh Carrie you look so gorgeous," Esme said as she gave me a hug.

"Thanks mom. Is everyone ready," I asked as I looked around the room.

"Just a few finishing touches and we'll be done," Alice said. I felt Rosalie pinning something to my hair and messed with something at the top of my head. Then there came a knocking from the door and Esme went to answer it.

Carlisle came through the door, he wearing a dark suit with a white rose pinned to the left side of the jacket. "Is everyone ready, it is about time for the ceremony to start," he said as he came into the room.

Before anyone could answer though we were interrupted by, "Mama," the shout of a cute little dark hair girl wearing a white dress and carrying a small basket. "Mama, mama," the girl called out happily as she ran into Bella's arms, "look at what I was given," she was given as she held the basket above her head.

"That's nice sweetie, but be careful so that you don't spill the petals everywhere," Bella said softly. The little girl, Jasmine, is hers and Jacob's first child; she is about seven years of age. Her skin is a shade in between her parents, with dark brown eyes and hair. She is a cute inquisitive little child who tends to be on the clumsy side like her mother. They also have one other child, a baby boy named Weston, who is not quite a year old. By the looks of it so far, he is going to be the spitting image of his dad.

"Okay before we go out there let's take some pictures of everyone here," the photographer said. The ladies and I gathered around while the photographer took a bunch of photos. Then Carlisle and I got together for a few pictures along with Esme and I, then the three of us together.

"Alright, everyone get in your positions," Esme said after she clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. Alice, Rosalie, Bella, Emily and Chika, a young, intellegent and wonderful woman whom was imprinted on by Embry a few years ago, all left the small room that we were in. Before Esme left she handed me a bouquet of white tulips, roses and lilies and placed one last kiss upon my brow. Her departure left only Carlisle and me in the room.

"Are you ready for this Carrie," Carlisle asked me softly as he held one of my hands in his.

"As ready as I'll ever be after seven years I guess," I told him sheepishly.

"Don't worry everything will be fine," he said reassuringly. Our heads picked up as the church organ began to play.

"I guess there's no turning back now is there," I joked with a small laugh.

"I guess there isn't," he said with a laugh as well as we walked out of the room. We stood near the back of the larger room and watched as the others slowly made their way out and into the main chamber of the church. First was little Jasmine as the flower girl, then there Alice as the maid of honor was escorted out by Emmett the best man. They were followed shortly after Rosalie and Jasper, Bella and Jacob, Emily and Sam then finally Chika and Embry. They left so that there was around twelve feet between each group. As the last couple left, the door closed and we were left alone again.

If you haven't figured it out yet we are at a wedding. Not just any wedding though, it was my wedding. That's right today I was going to get married to the man of my dreams. A smile spreads across my face as I think about this. I had never dreamed in all my life that I would ever find and fall in love, get married and other things like this, but here I am waiting for Carlisle to walk me down the aisle.

Flashback

It was the night of senior prom and my sisters and I were in Rosalie's room getting ready. For the past two weeks Alice, Rosalie and Esme have taken me to what seemed like every dress store in the tri-state area, looking for the perfect prom dress. At first I was in my disguise but they wanted to dress me in my now normal form. I would just have to use my ability to be overlooked. We went store to store looking for the perfect dress. I would pick out one but my sisters would say that it simply wouldn't do. I was just about to give up until they decided that they had found the perfect dress for me. It was a gold sleeveless ball gown that reached all the way to the floor. It was tight across the bodice and accentuated my bust and cleavage. It puffed out at the hips with about ten layers of fabric and 'petticoats'. I made it so that my skin was lightly tanned which made it look absolutely perfect. I would have worn one of the dresses that I got for my birthday but they were made for my old form and they wanted to me to go with my new form. Alice had a dark purple dress that came to her knees in an uneven way and had two sections of fabric that came over the breasts and tied behind the neck, and the back was open down to the waist. There was a silver belt with a 'diamond accented' buckle in the middle right underneath her breasts to make sure that the dress stayed closed. Rosalie had a white dress that was very similar to the dress that Marilyn Monroe was famous for.

Esme pulled my hair back, separated it into two parts (top and bottom) and rolled them up and pinned it in a giant serpentine shape with a few wisps of hair framing my face and hanging along my hair line to give it a more delicate look to it. Rosalie did my make up with light brown/gold eye shadow with a dark pink/ light red lip gloss with a tiny bit of eye liner and mascara. They took their time doing all of this for as they said they wanted everything to be perfect for my first prom.

After I was ready we all went down stairs to meet the guys who were waiting in the living room. I hesitantly made my way down the stairs behind Alice and Rosalie. When we entered the living room I saw what the boys were wearing. Emmett had on a black tux with a black bow tie and a tailed jacket. Jasper was also wearing a black tux but his vest and tie were a dark purple to match Alice's dress. Edward was wearing an all white tux. The pants, jacket, vest and bow tie, everything was white. The only color was a yellow rose pinned to his lapel.

I looked up to Edward's eyes and saw that he was staring at me with a smoldering gaze. I could feel 'the ghost' a blush spread across my cheeks and my ears felt a little warmer than usual as they turned red as well. I held his gaze as he slowly walked toward me. When I was right in front of me he brought his hands up to my cheeks, caressing them softly before he moved them to my shoulders and slowly dragged them down my arms as he looked me over. When he came to my hands he held them in his as he brought them up between us and placed a kiss upon them. "I do believe that I have been sent an angel this night. You look absolutely radiant," Edward said his voice slightly husky.

"You don't look half bad yourself," I told him with a grin. He let go of my left hand as he led me over to one of the coffee tables. He let go of my other hand so that he could pick up a small box that had an all white corsage. He gently removed it from the box and carefully placed it around my right wrist. He then brought the same hand up and placed another kiss upon it.

"Alright time for pictures," Esme said excitedly as she came into the living room camera in hand with Carlisle behind her. We spent about an hour striking various poses before Esme was reminded that we had to go by Carlisle. Edward walked me to his Volvo and made sure that my dress was all tucked in before he closed the door and got in the driver's side. Rosalie and Emmett took her car while Esme allowed Jasper and Alice borrow her vehicle. We drove to the outskirts of town to a large hall that was being used for this year's prom and post prom festivities.

We made our way to the line to get our pictures taken under the large entrance banner. This year's theme is 'A Night in Hollywood'. I heard that last years prom was such a success that they went with roughly the same thing again this year, which Alice was slightly bummed about but quickly got over it. There were some classic cars parked here and there that were donated for the night to add to the decorations. Since we participate didn't in Grand March none of us had a chance to be voted prom king and queen. That honor went to Eric and Angela. We even spotted Bella and Jacob who decided to crash the party, if only for a short while. They waved hi to us but they didn't come over.

Prom was a blast. The music was terrific, the decor fabulous and the atmosphere was lively. Edward held me close the entire time and danced every song with me. We disappeared for a short while to the lush garden in the back and danced slowly next to the reflecting pool. The lights tinkling in the water was similar to the stars in the sky. It just felt so magical and the way that Edward held me ... ah heaven.

We were currently walking hand and hand through the garden. We could still hear the music playing softly in the background. We eventually came to a small bench were we sat down to watch as the fireflies flew by with the full moon looking down on us. My attention was down to Edward when he moved so that he was facing me more and held both of my hands in his. He seemed to struggle to say something so I gave him an encouraging smile. He let out a sigh and said, "Carrie, we need to talk."

I immediately felt my happiness shatter and my heart drop down to my toes. Nothing good ever came from hearing those words from the person that you are involved with. "About what," I asked with a shaky voice.

Edward gave my hands a light squeeze before he continued. "Do you remember when you said that if a vampiress caught my attention and if I felt that I might like her that I should feel free to pursue her?" I nodded for I didn't think that I would be able to speak. _'Why is he bringing this up now? Couldn't he at least wait until tomorrow to tell me this?' _"Well I think that you should know that I have met a woman, a vampiress, and I have developed a strong interest in her. She is smart, she's funny, and she is very caring. She has completely enraptured me that I find myself constantly thinking about her. I have a hard time not picturing the rest of eternity without her," he said as he looked into my eyes. I could tell by the way that his eyes shined that what he spoke was true, he has found someone else. Sure I'm a vampire now but he said that he met one, he knew me before I was a vampire, so it couldn't be me.

"Does she make you happy," as I looked away down at the ground in front of us.

"Yes very much so," he replied honestly.

I looked at him and studied his face, searching for answers. His eyes were shinning with the love and devotion and he was sporting that cute little crooked grin of his. I could tell that he was in love and it was directed toward the woman whom he was talking about. As much as I didn't want to see him go to someone else, I did make a promise and I will keep my word. I will let him go so that he can be happy with her. I was secretly hoping that this day wouldn't come. I was hoping that I could keep Edward to myself. It was tearing me up inside to know that he was interested in another. But as the saying goes, 'if you love them, let them go.' I will just have to be happy and content with what time he has given me and to wish him the best of luck. "As long as you're happy, I'm happy," I told him softly as I slowly stood up and made my way back to the party.

"Where are you going," he asked with confusion clear in his voice.

"I'm going back to the party; we have been out here for a while. I'm sure the others are getting worried," I said trying to keep my voice calm. I have never felt like crying more in my entire life as I walked away from him, not even the pain of being beaten repeatedly, raped and left for dead could compare to the heartbreak I was feeling at this moment. I knew that I shouldn't have opened my heart to him or anyone else. I should have left my heart and emotions buried deep in stone and encased in ice.

"Carrie, Carrie, Carrie," I heard him say as he caught up with me. _'What does he want now? Hasn't he done enough?' _He gently grasped my arm and slowly turned me around so that we were face to face. I kept my head down and refused to look at him so he placed his hand under my chin and tilted my head up so that we were eye to eye and I begrudgingly made eye contact with him. "I don't think that you really heard what I said so you do not fully understand what has been said," Edward grinned at his choice of words.

"I heard and understood what you said. I have given you my blessing, isn't that enough? What more do you want from me," I demanded with a slight touch of hysterics and anger in my voice.

"Again I do not think that you were listening to the entirety of what I said. I am glad that you have given me your blessing, that means that I can do this," he said.

I had turned and looked away when he was speaking so I turned back now for I was confused at his words. What I saw though had me shocked. Edward was down on one knee looking at me expectantly. I knew I had a look of confusion on my face at his actions for he gave me one of his smiles that he gives me whenever I am confused. He slowly reached forward and grabbed the hand that was the furthest away from him and gently pulled causing me to fully face him. _'What is he doing? Why is he doing this?_'

"Carrie, babes, the vampiress that I was talking about is you. You are the love of my life, you make me happy, and you are the one that I want to spend all eternity with. I guess what I am asking is this: will you, Carrie Hale, marry me? Will you be my wife," he asked with a voice full of hope as he withdrew a small velvet box from his pocket. He opened the box and I gasped and covered my mouth at what I saw. Inside the box on thin silver band had to be three of the biggest diamonds I have ever seen, they were large but not overly so. All of the diamonds were a beautiful princess cut and had to be around three karats. I bet that I must have been a perfectly good impression of a fish with my eyes wide and my mouth opening and closing with no sound coming out. Edward was watching me with amusement shinning in his eyes as I struggled to say something. My eyes began moving back and forth between him and the ring as I processed what he said. _'Did he...did he just...propose? Did he just ask for my hand in marriage?' _

"I did," was his response to my thoughts. I looked deep into his eyes and saw the honest truth; I could see it in what he called his nonexistent soul. A smile started to spread across my face and before he could blink I let out a sound of happiness as I tackled him to the ground with my arms wrapped tightly around his neck. "Is this a yes," he asked with a laugh.

"Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes," I said with so much happiness exuding from me that I was sure that Jasper could feel it from where we were at. I pulled back so that I could see his face and saw that he had a look of pure happiness and contentment on his face. He pulled my left arm from around his neck and held my hand in front of him. He took the ring from the box and slowly slipped it on my finger. When the ring was in place he looked at it as it sparkled in the moon light before he placed a kiss against it. He then looked me in the eyes and I felt his hand move to the back of my neck then he pulled me down for one of the most toe curling kisses that we have ever shared. I happily returned the kiss putting all of my happiness into it.

We eventually pulled away and we were practically beaming at each other. We rolled over so that I was on my back and him on top of me. He placed another kiss upon my lips before he stood up and pulled me up on my feet as well. I looked at the ring as I wiggled my fingers, watching as the moonlight caused the diamonds to sparkle. Edward was watching me in amusement and I let out a small laugh before I kissed him again. Edward wrapped his arms around me, picked me up a couple of inches then proceeded to spin around in a circle as he kissed me. He eventually set me down and we made our way back to the party.

End Flashback

I remember when the others found out that I accepted Edward's proposal. I was immediately tackled by Alice and Rosalie and the boys clapped Edward on the back then they gave me a hug. The rest of the night Edward held me even closer and we kept gazing at the ring on my finger. The only time when we were apart was when the girls dragged me away so that we could change into something else for post prom. They of course picked out my outfit which resulted in them having to drag me out of the bathroom because of what they had me wearing.

The outfit consisted of the tube top that Rosalie gave me for Christmas so therefore it didn't fit on me the same. The top came up low on my chest so that the bat shaped scar could be clearly seen, for some reason that was the only scar that remained after my transformation, all the others disappeared, along with a modest amount of cleavage and came down to the dip if my waist. The bottom was a black leather skirt that was riding dangerously low on my hips and came down to about mid thigh with a couple of chains looping around on it. Alice gently took the bottom half of my hair down to let to hang freely and Rosalie did new, darker makeup to go with the darker outfit. My sisters wore skirts and nice tops but they were showing less skin than I was. They eventually got me out of the bathroom and I tried to cover myself up. Edward seemed really pleased with the outfit though for he couldn't keep his eyes off of me, along with his hands and lips. We even spent some time in a dark corner making out for a while.

End Flashbacks

"What are you thinking about," I heard Carlisle ask me as we waited for the doors to open.

I turned to look at him and gave him a brilliant smile. "I'm just thinking about how glad I am that you guys found me and didn't lose hope for me."

Carlisle smiled at my words and gave me a fatherly hug which I happily returned. As we pulled away an all too familiar march began to play. "I guess that means that it's time," Carlisle said softly. I simply nodded in response. We both straightened our appearance and posture as the doors slowly opened. I could hear the soft rumble caused as everyone stood and turned to face us. We only planned to have a small wedding, family and friends but being in this small town everyone knew about the wedding so practically everyone came. I felt a bit self conscience with so many pairs of eyes on me so I looked straight ahead. There were flowers everywhere with some soft white lights mixed in with the décor.

I saw my mother, Esme standing in the front wearing a pale rose dress and jacket customary to many mothers of the brides. She had a Kleenex clenched in her hands and she looked so happy yet on the verge of crying as she gave me a smile of reassurance which I tried to return. I saw my bride's maids wearing their sleeveless full length robin egg blue dresses holding a small bouquet of mixed flowers. My dress was the classic white with a wide scoop neck with off of the shoulder full length flowing bell sleeves. The bodice was form fitting and the skirt flowed out from the hips and was full cut with a four foot long train following behind me. On the other side were the guys with their tuxes with bow ties and vests the same color as the bride maids dresses. My attention was drawn to the center as the cleric took his position on the top of the steps and next to him was Edward. He was wearing a classic tux with black vest and tie with a white rose pinned to his jacket. He had an illusion on him, as well as the rest of our family, to make him appear a few years older. They still looked to be much the same that they were, but they appeared to be more mature in their looks. I didn't have to hide my features so my looks were thought to me being a late bloomer and having my final growth spurt in the last few years.

Edward looked so handsome standing there with that crooked grin of his. I just couldn't take my eyes off of him and I could feel my smile getting larger. All that I was aware of was me and him. I didn't even notice as Carlisle and I came to the end of our walk and we stood there at the base of the stairs a couple of feet away from him. My sole attention of him was broken when the cleric spoke.

"Who here is to give this woman to the man," he said loud enough to be heard throughout the church.

"Her mother and I do," was Carlisle's reply. The cleric made a gesture with his hand and Carlisle placed a kiss on my cheek before he placed my hand in Edward's. Together Edward and I slowly climbed the six steps so that we were closer to the cleric. After we reached our positions Edward and I stood so that we could see each other but were still facing the cleric. I heard as everyone took their seats.

"Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony," the cleric began. I just happened to look out of the corner of my eye at Edward just to see that he had his head turned in my direction looking at me. I turned my head as well so that I could face him. He just looked so charming and perfect; I just couldn't help but smile even wider. When he winked at me I let out a silent laugh at his actions. I only had eyes for him and he only had eyes for me.

"Now for the rings," was what brought me back to reality. Both Edward and I moved so that we were facing each other then we turned to get the rings from our person of honor, Edward from his best man Emmett and me from my maid of honor Alice whom I handed my bouquet. We faced each other again and held on to each others hands between us.

"I, Edward Cullen, take you, Carrie Hale, for my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part," Edward repeated after the cleric while he looked deeply into my eyes as he slowly slipped the wedding band onto my finger in front of the engagement ring. The band was silver as well with one karat diamonds around the entire thing. On the inside was inscribed, '_Forever my queen_.'

"I, Carrie Hale, take you, Edward Cullen, for my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part," I repeated as I looked into Edward's eyes as well as I slipped on his wedding band. His band was silver of a medium width with a vine like design carved into it. On the inside was inscribed, '_Forever my king_.'

We had our hands gently clasped together between us. Edward's thumbs were gently rubbing across my knuckles. Again we weren't paying much attention to the cleric as he finished his part of the deal. "You may now kiss the bride," he said. Edward and I slowly leaned closer to each other and our lips met in a kiss to seal the deal. I felt one of Edward's hands come up along the left side of my head and neck while the other wrapped around my waist and my arms wrapped around his neck as we kissed. I faintly heard as the church erupted into cheers at our union. We pulled away and leaned our foreheads against each others with a large smile on our faces. "My I present to you for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Cullen." We turned to face the cheering audience and I took my flowers back from Alice then we made our way down the aisle and out the church with the others following.

Edward's POV

I was so nervous that I couldn't keep still. I was pacing back and forth wearing my tux minus the jacket. I think that the last time that I was this nervous was prom night when I asked Carrie to marry me. I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration.

"Calm down Edward, everything will be fine and it will be over with before you know it," Carlisle said reassuringly as he put on his jacket.

"Yeah and you'll be on your honeymoon. Maybe you'll lose some of that tenseness of yours," Emmett joked with a laugh from where he sat on one of the spare benches in the room. I let out a growl at his words, but he just laughed at me some more. And I made him my best man. The guys and I were in our designated changing room while the girls were in another one down the hall on the other side.

"You shouldn't joke about something like that. Besides I think that his actions of being celibate for seven years with her are quite commendable," Jasper said quietly from where he stood in a dark corner of the room. He was in the corner to hide from the sunlight that was streaming in from the window. Even though he had an illusion on him that prevented him from sparkling, and being around Carrie's gift for the all of this time he still takes precautions such as this. It's just Jasper being Jasper. Just then there was a knocking at the door. Carlisle went over and opened it to reveal a smiling Esme.

"Edward dear, you really ought to finish getting ready its almost time for things to start," Esme said as she came over to me and started straightening out my clothes and finger combed my hair.

"Gees Edward, I never pictured you as such a mama's boy. You're over a hundred years old, when are you going to act your age," Jacob said in a teasing way with a cocky smirk on his face.

"Watch it flea bag," I lightly snarled. Sometimes I wonder what Carrie sees in him. Sam I could understand and maybe even Embry, but Jacob?

"Whatever blood sucker," he said with another small laugh while crossing his arms.

"Enough you two now is not the time for one of your petty little arguments," Carlisle said slightly disapprovingly yet with humor evident in his tone.

"Well since you all seem ready I am going to go check on the girls," Esme said. She then placed a kiss on my cheek then left the room to do as she said.

"Since you are all ready I guess we just have to wait on the girls. Edward you should go out and greet some of your guests and wait up by the alter," Carlisle said as he held my jacket up for me. I put my jacket on and buttoned it up. As he pinned on the rose he said to me, "I'm proud of you Edward always remember that." He finished what he said with a fatherly pat on the cheek and then the shoulder. He took one last look around before he turned and exited with all of us following him.

I headed to the front of the church while the others waited in the hall and Carlisle went in the direction of the girl's room. Little Jasmine passed me on the way out and I watched as she caught up with Carlisle at the door at the end of the hall. I stood up at the front of the church while trying my best to not fidget too bad in front of all these people. While standing up there I saw Billy and Charlie talking and I received a wave from the Denali's whom Carlisle invited and I listened to what the guests were saying. There were the usual comments on our good looks and there were various comments of how well Carrie has grown and how she has grown into a beautiful young woman. I scoff a little bit at this. I always thought that Carrie was a beautiful person. They just didn't take the time or effort to really look, to look past her protective shell and her scars to see the real her that was buried deep within; the person that I fell in love with.

I saw Esme walk up and speak briefly with the organ player then to the cleric and then took her seat in the front after she gave me one last encouraging smile. Everyone was directed to take their seats and after a few announcements were made the organ began to play. '_There's no turning back now, not that I want to_.' The doors at the back of the hall slowly opened revealing little Jasmine who dropped small handfuls of rose petal of various colors as she walked. She had such a cute look of concentration on her face as she tried to make a continuous path down the aisle. When she got to the end she went over to sit with her grandfathers Billy and Charlie, the former holding her little brother Weston. Charlie wrapped his arm around her and praised her about how she looked so cute and what such a good job she did which had her beaming with pride. She sure has Jacob's ego alright.

Emmett and Alice were next in line. I had a hard time deciding which of my brothers I should make my best man. In the end though I decided with Emmett because he was the first member of my family besides Alice that became friends with Bella when I was in a relationship with her. I mentally laugh as I remember the slight competition that Alice and Rosalie had on which one of them was going to be Carrie's maid of honor. Carrie joked with them by say who said that it had to be one of them when she could possibly choose Bella or Angela or someone from La Push. They didn't really like that idea and punished her by tickling her until she could no longer stand. Eventually Carrie chose Alice to be her maid of honor because she said that Alice was the first in the family who tried to befriend her. Alice was ecstatic with the decision and Rosalie found it understandable.

After them came Jasper and Rosalie, then Bella and Jacob, Emily and Sam, and finally Chika and Embry. The last two couples are some, besides Jacob, from La Push that Carrie gets along with the most. As I watched them walk slowly down the aisle and absentmindedly noted that Carrie did a good job of picking a style and color of dress that complimented the girls nicely. Once everyone was in their place the music continued playing for a while then it stopped. When it started again the wedding march began to play. Everyone stood and turned to the doors which were slowly opening so as to pay their respects to the bride. My breath caught in my throat at what I saw. Carrie was a vision of beauty and again I thought that she was an angel created just for me. A smile spread across my face as she looked up and made eye contact with me; a larger smile appeared on her face as well. I just couldn't keep my eyes off of her; the only thing I was aware of was her. Everything was a blur and what registered in my mind was, "You my now kiss the bride," and kiss her I did.

"May I present to you for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Cullen," the cleric said as we pulled away and faced the audience. This has got to be the happiest day of my life was both Carrie's and mine thoughts as we exited the church into the limo that was to take us to the reception which was held in the same hall that prom and post prom was held all those years ago.

The reception was really fun. We waited until everyone had arrived before we made our appearance into the cheering hall. We all sat down for dinner, we of course didn't eat anything, and then we sat and listened as various people made speeches of well wishes and congratulations. Then it was time to cut the cake. The cake itself was huge, more than enough to feed everyone present; it was made of five thick layers with frosting flowers and ribbons decorating it. Carrie held on to the knife and I wrapped my hand around hers while I stood slightly to her side with my hand on her waist. We cut a couple of pieces of cake, one for each of us. Carrie picked up her piece with her hands and I followed suit. She held her piece up to my mouth with her vixen smirk in place as I held mine to her. I opened my mouth to take a bite, but she ended up smashing her whole piece in my face. I retaliated my doing the same to her. Carrie backed up about half a step and brought her hand up to clear the cake out of her eyes. Everyone was laughing of course at our antics. I reached forward, grabbed on to her waist and pulled her flush against me. I leaned down and caught her frosting covered lips in a passionate kiss. I would have kept on going if I didn't hear someone thoughts about how we should save some for the honeymoon.

After we cleaned up we shared our first dance as husband and wife. I lead her over to the dance floor and stood right in the middle. She seemed to be a little nervous so I pulled her close, wrapped one arm around her and held her hand with the other. "Don't worry Carrie, it's just you and me and no one else," I reassured her softly, just like I did that Halloween when she was crowned my queen. She looked up at me with a smile and we were lost in each others gaze.

'_Our love is unconditional_

_We knew it from the start_

_I can see it in your eyes_

_You can feel it from my heart, _

_from here on after_

_Lets stay the way we are right now_

_And share all the love and laughter_

_That a lifetime will allow'_

A large smile spreads across Carrie's face as she hears the song. I picked the song out myself without any of her help for I wanted it to be a surprise. I wanted a song that would have a special meaning for us, for the way that I feel about her and hopefully what she felt about me. I wanted a song that spoke about our relationship, for the past, present and future. I listened as Carrie sang along with the chorus.

'_I cross my heart_

_And promise to_

_Give all I've got to give_

_To make all your dreams come true_

_In all the world_

_You'll never find_

_A love as true as mine'_

I shocked Carrie slightly when I started to lightly sing along with the next part to her.

'_You will always be the miracle_

_That makes my life complete_

_And as long as there's still breath in me_

_I'll make yours just as sweet_

_As we look into the future_

_Its as far as we can see_

_So let's make each tomorrow_

_Be the best that it can be'_

I leaned my forehead against hers while I let go of her hand so that I could wrap that arm around her as well. Carrie brought her hands up around my neck and we lightly sang the rest together to each other with bright loving smiles on our face and stars in our eyes.

'_I cross my heart_

_And promise to_

_Give all I've got to give_

_To make all your dreams come true_

_In all the world_

_You'll never find_

_A love as true as mine_

I watched as she closed her eyes and basked in the experience that we were sharing. I soon followed her example and just let the love that we felt for each other wrap aound us. I felt as though I was floating on clouds, dancing on the wind, in awe of how right if felt and knowing that I can have this feeling for the rest of my days.

'_And if along the way we find a day_

_It starts to storm_

_You've got the promise of my love_

_To keep you warm'_

(George Strait's I Cross My Heart)

We kiss as we continued to lightly sway side to side, sometime we stopped our little waltz, as the last of the song continued to play. I tightened my arms around her so that I could pick her up slightly off of the floor. Carrie's arms tightened around my neck in response to her feet leaving the floor. We were brought out of our little world by the applause and cheers of our guests. Carrie let out a small laugh and placed a quick peck on my lips before I sat her down. The next song began and more people came out onto the dance floor. Carlisle came and asked Carrie for a dance so I danced with Esme. I recognized Bucky Covington's I'll Walk begin to play.

"I really am proud of you Edward dear," Esme said in her caring tone as we danced.

"For what," I asked more out of courtesy since I knew what she was thinking.

"Well for not giving up hope for both her surviving and coping and eventually coming around and finally marrying you. I'm proud that you decided to help her when she first moved here. She could be dead now if you didn't try to get to know her. The others may not have tried anything if you weren't curious about her," Esme told me.

"It has only been seven years since we met and I proposed. I would have waited seventy years until she was ready to do this. I wasn't going to break off the engagement because I got tired of waiting," I told her honestly.

"I know that you wouldn't have, I would be disappointed if you did. But now all my children are married and you could go off still yet and try to start your own coven," Esme said in a wistful yet depressed sort of way.

"I don't think that I could handle having my own coven, that's more of Jasper's area than mine," I said as I made eye contact with said vampire who was dancing with Alice close to the stage.

"I know but it's my place as your mother to worry about things such of this, especially since you are married now. Not to mention that you're my youngest, in way," Esme added with a small laugh. I danced with the rest of my female family members and even little Jasmine once before it was time for another wedding tradition, the tossing of the bouquet and garter.

Carrie's POV

"Alright, it's time for the bouquet toss. So all of you unmarried ladies front and center," I heard someone announce over the sound system. I went to get my bouquet but when I turned around there was Rosalie holding it out to me with a smile. I gently took the flowers from her and gave her a hug. We walked to the dance floor together; I stayed at one end and she went to stand at the back of the group with Alice. I looked at all who were gathered and I recognized some of the eager faces who had their eyes on the bouquet. I turned so that my back was to them, with one final look over my shoulder I tossed the bouquet over my head.

I turned around so that I could watch the squabble. As predicted they all jumped up to get the bouquet what landed around the middle of the group of savage beasts. I watched as it bounced around as everyone tried but failed to grab it. Someone hit the bouquet away from the main part of the group and I watched as it flew through the air … and landed in the open arms of little Jasmine. The other women who were trying to get the bouquet looked at her in disbelief and some in anger. I heard some laughter, looked and saw that Bella who was holding baby Weston was laughing lightly at the result while Jacob had a look of uneasiness on his face. The overprotective father mode was kicking in.

I was caught off guard when I was suddenly swept off of my feet. Out of reflex I wrapped my arms around the neck of the person who picked me up. I looked and noticed that the person who held me was none other than my new husband Edward Cullen.

"How's that for sweeping you off your feet," he asked in a teasing sort of way.

I knew what he was referring to, our second snow fight where he tackled me into the snow. "I say that it's smoother, but I liked the results of the last one better," I said with a smirk as I lightly tapped the end of his nose with my finger.

"I'll remember that you said that later," he said with his sexy smile. His attention was taken from me as Emmett approached us carrying a chair which he set down next to us. He left after he sent me a wink and went over to where there was a crowd of young men gathering. They must be the eligible bachelors ready to take their turn at the souvenir (garter) toss. Already some cat calls could be heard as Edward gently placed me in the chair. I could feel my face heat up in embarrassment as the illusion of a blush appeared.

Edward leaned down and kissed me deeply as a way to slightly distract me as he slowly kneeled down by my feet. He continued to kiss me so that I wasn't aware that he was slowly hiking my dress up to my knees. I pulled away from the kiss when I felt his hands run up from my ankles to my knees. It was then that I noticed that I was holding my dress in my lap so that it would be out of the way. '_That sneaky little devil._' Edward leaned down and placed soft kisses against my knees as he hands farther up my legs and under my dress. There were more cat calls and hoots and hollers at his actions and I brought my hands up to cover my face in embarrassment. Edward gently caressed my legs as his hands move higher and higher. "It's on the right," I lightly chided him as I squirmed under his teasing fingers. I felt both of his hands continue up, pass the garter and to my hips and he continued to tease the skin under his fingers. He seemed to decide that he had enough fun so he slowly dragged his right hand across my upper thigh over to my right leg. He then slowly ran his finger along my skin, grasped the lace of the garter and removed it from my leg in a tantalizing sort of way with one last kiss to my knees.

The guys who were waiting were all in a riot now at the little 'show' that they had just seen. Edward stood up with a wink before he shot the garter over his shoulder like a sling shot. It just happened to smack a newer wolf Nick, an awkward, shy and bashful cousin of Quil's, in the face as he was walking across the dance floor; he wasn't standing with the other eligible men even though he was one. He looked at it in confusion as he picked it off of his form, then he looked to both of his side. On his left were some angry men hoping for some of my intimate apparel on his right were Edward in I who was suppressing our laughter at is predicament but amused none the less. I glanced over at Jacob and saw that he wasn't quite pleased the results being the type of father that he is. Bella seemed to notice as well for she loaded his arms up with their children.

The rest of the reception was more dancing and speeches and some presents that people just absolutely had to give us then and there. Before I knew it I was changing into something to wear on the plane. As a gift Carlisle and Esme bought us a small island of our own in the middle of the Bermuda triangle and it was all set for us to use for two months and we would have it all to ourselves. After we changed we ran out of the building to the limo that would take us to the airport while passing through our guests who threw rice on our forms.

I cuddled against Edward in the back of the limo as we rode to the air port. I smile comes to my face as I think about the events of the day. I'm finally married, a day that I thought for the longest time wouldn't come, but it has and I'm thankful for it. Over the past few years my siblings and now husband went to school and are working jobs related to their degrees. I decided to wait on going to college until the next time around. For my part in contributing to the house hold and made paintings, drawings and other forms of art work and had them sold at the Newton's store in town. My art work had been a big hit when they first hit the shelves, and they still are to some extent. I remember that I went door to door to each business in town asking if they would be willing to sell any of my work. All of them turned me down; the Newton's store was my last chance. When Mrs. Newton saw some of the works that I brought with me she immediately fell in love with them and bought them herself. She said that she would be willing to hang my work up in part of the store. I will go in every so often and pick up any money made with the purchase of my work, she keeps a small amount as a fee but I still get the majority.

The rest of the limo ride was a blur and so was the plane ride. Edward and I were currently sitting at the front of a boat as we traveled to the island that would be our home for the next two months. Esme had the idea of us going on a cruise after wards but we both declined saying that the being on the island would be enough. I was wearing a white tank top with blue jean shorts with white flip flops and my hair pulled up in a ponytail. Edward had beige cotton pants on, with a white button up shirt which was unbuttoned and flapping in the wind. When we reached the shore Edward hopped of onto the sand. He reached toward me and grabbed hold of me around my waist picked me up out of the boat then gently placed me on my feet.

"Home sweet home," Edward whispered to me after he lightly kissed my lips. We walked hand in hand up the beach and to the cabin after the people who were carrying our luggage into the cabin. We waited on the porch so that we wouldn't be in the way while they brought in our bags. When they were finished Edward tipped them then we watched as they sailed away out of sight. "About time they got out of here," I barely heard Edward whisper. Before I could ask him what he meant he swept me up into his arms and carried me over the threshold…and right to the bedroom. I guess it's a good thing that I put on the 'special garment' that Rosalie gave me on under my clothes. We didn't leave the bedroom much for the first two weeks let alone each other arms.

Well there you have it, my story of being lost and found. I'm still in a cage sort of to speak but it is a lot less constrictive cage. I'm not sure if it's necessarily a good or bad thing yet but you won't find me complaining any.

"What are you up to babes," Edward asked me as he came up behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders and placing kisses against my neck.

"Nothing much, just looking through the photo albums," I told him breathlessly as I tilted my head to the right to allow him more room. The one I was looking at was one that the family was working on around the time that we graduated. I shivered with pleasure each time he touched the area where he bit me at so long ago and began to lose myself to the sensations he was causing.

"I think you ought to go to bed and rest, Carlisle said to make sure that you get plenty of rest," Edward said as he gently picked me up out of the chair that I was sitting at next to my desk. He then carried me over to our bed with his nose buried in my hair taking in my scent. After our honeymoon we came home and found that Edward's things had been moved into my room. Since mine was the bigger of the two it became our room. We weren't complaining any though we were wondering why they have us sharing a room when the only other ones who do are Carlisle and Esme.

Edward gently placed me on the bed and tucked me in. He went and turned off all of the lights and closed up the curtains. When he was satisfied with everything he crawled into bed behind me and wrapped his arm around me with his hand slowly rubbing against my swollen abdomen. Yes you read that right, I am pregnant. I'm not sure how but I think that it has to do with the finally gift Broken Wing had given me after my final awakening. I felt when Edward lightly tugged my shirt up a little bit then reach his hand under my shirt and felt as his hand gently rubbed the bare skin of my abdomen. He stayed his hand when he felt a kick. I could tell that he was smiling for he had his face buried in the hair at the back of my head, his lips brushing my neck. I placed my hands and gave it a light squeeze. I then cast the sleep spell on everyone in the house and I fell asleep with him rubbing small circles on my stomach.

A few months later I give birth to twins, a boy and a girl. The girl, Sasha, was born first; she has her father's hair, my eyes, originally, and her gift is that of a skilled huntress. She even looks the part when she is older with a long lithe body and angular features with narrow, piercing eyes. Her skills rival and are greater than that of James from what the others have told me. The boy Jackson has my hair and his father's eyes, originally, and he takes strongly after his father in looks. His gift is that of Mind Control, or to say that he is able to influence people with his thoughts. They took Edward's old room; Alice told us that she had a vision of them so told the family to move Edward's things, but she didn't tell them why. Sasha is a quiet girl much like Jasper and I, in fact they get along the best and he is her favorite uncle. Jackson is quiet around people that he doesn't know or trust but at times he can act like Alice or Emmett. Over all they are both a nice mix of both Edward and me. However they can be just as bad as Emmett and I when we get into one of our payback games when they bicker. I noticed that after I gave birth to them, the last bit of warm in my body, that I wasn't aware of before, left me. I guess that I won't be having anymore kids. I remember Rosalie was mad at me when we all discovered I was pregnant about a year or so after our marriage, but she soon got over it as she the excitement of being an aunt consumed her.

Looking back on my life as a whole, even though it was harsh and not ideal, I wouldn't change a thing for that is what got me here to begin with.

THE END

total words: 229,147. total pages: 416 yay go me!

(Should I really try to write a lemon for at least an extra epilogue?)

lets see other things to address, this is my longest chapter by far, twice over twenty pages and over 12,000 words.

chika1345 got an in story and story add on cameo for beign totaly awesome and **reading and reviewing every single chapter**. love ya girl. i gave ya your fav wolf to have for all your own. both embry and kouga, who is baking you some cookies for guessing right on the kids!

howard and the rest got what was coming to them, sentenced to life without the chance of parole (one night they all mysteriously dissappeared from their jail cells the night before that they were to be transferred to prison. some of their blood was found in there rooms, they are missing, and wanted (though presumed dead lol) no one took responsibility though there are a quite a few people willing to be the ones who did it, not just vampires and wolves but townspeople included.)

carlisle and esme had carrie's old place torn down and the surrounding areas completely redone and a new house set up that edward and carrie and the children lived in to keep up appearances of a 'separate' family.

jasmine and sam and emily's oldest son, jr. fell in love and were together, but both dread the day when he imprints.

things were hectic between the wolf and vampires there for a few years when weston got a strong crush on sasha, believing her his imprint. it was funny watching him interact with her. he chased her every where acting like a total player.

jake and bella had four kids, one girl and three boys

carrie found out that she was slightly attracted more toward wolf blood but the thought disgusted her so much that she never drinks it. sasha was the same when she relized hers was tiger blood. jackson was easily deer blood, for they were fast and swift like he was.

carrie used her powers to have the family age and live a long life, and eventually carlisle and esme went back to school themselves with some of their children acting like thier parents lol

i'm still working on the drawings and as they are finished and posted i'll have links to them on my profile.

nick was going to be quil but then i remembered he imprinted, then it was jared but someone pointed out that he imprinted. i gave embry to chika so i just made a new one lol

even though this is complete i still want reviews from people!

Thank you all that have read and reviewed. i have other fic ideas buncing around in my head so be on the look out.


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